The Arrangement
by AWolfAmongSwans
Summary: AU. When Snow and Charming's kingdom is in danger of falling apart, Princess Emma accepts an arranged marriage to a Prince from another kingdom in order to save it. But on the way to his castle, things don't go according to plans and along the way she'll meet a Huntsman who will start to make her question if she can really go through with the idea after all.
1. A Bump In The Road

"I refuse to let her do this!" Charming shouted in frustration as he paced back and forth across the long corridor of the palace. "I know better than anyone just how wrong this is." He huffed, his pace increasing some as he did so.

Snow let out a loud sigh and shook her head, "I don't want this either but it's her decision. She's twenty-five now, it's up to her whether she wants to do it or not."

James let out and exasperated sigh while Snow kept nervously fidgeting with her dress, waiting. The only sound that filled the hallway was the clicking of Charming's boots against the stone floor.

Though it had only been about fifteen minutes since she went in there, it felt like hours to both of them before she finally came outside.

As the doors to Emma's room opened, Charming turned on his heels to face his daughter standing in the doorway. "I've made my decision." She told them firmly as she made her way out into the hall. Her parents were on edge waiting for her response.

Emma straightened up, then cautiously smoothed her dress and took a deep breath, "I've decided that I will marry the Prince."

"I forbid it!" Charming roared, obviously not getting the answer he was hoping for.

"The kingdom will fall apart if I don't!" She defended.

Her father clenched his fist and stared down at the palace floor, not saying anything.

"No matter what we do our crops keep failing, if I don't marry the Prince and form an alliance with their kingdom there will be nothing left of ours!" Emma went on to remind him.

Snow and Charming's kingdom had fallen on hard times lately. Their once peaceful and flourishing kingdom was now struggling just to survive. The vital and plentiful crops had mysteriously shriveled up and nothing they did could seem to fix them. Because of this, the farmers had little to sell and the food supply in town had started to dwindle.

Then one day, a messenger came with a letter from the Prince of a neighboring land to the West. The letter contained an offer of an alliance between kingdoms for Emma's hand in marriage. The alliance would keep both countries at peace and would help the kingdom get back on its feet again. Should she choose to accept, the wedding would take place seven days after that, in his kingdom.

Both Snow and Charming dismissed the idea of it instantly. Emma on the other hand, suprisingly enough, actually gave it some consideration.

But his daughter was right, and he hated that. James had promised himself that no child of his would ever be forced into an arranged marriage like he had when he was younger. Luckily for him the woman he was set to marry, Abigail, the daughter of King Midas, was in love with someone else as well. So with some help from each other, the two managed to get out of the ordeal and wound up with the people they truly loved.

There was no way he'd let Emma go through with this, even despite wearing through all their other options. There just had to be something that he missed, something that could turn this kingdom around without his daughter having to get married.

Succumbing to frustration, he stormed out of the room. Snow stood beside her daughter and sighed. "He's not mad at you, it's the situation." She told her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. Emma nodded. "I know."

Despite her current calm and cool demeanor, deep down inside she was fighting the idea just as much as they were. Emma never considered herself much of a Princess, at least not in the traditional sense. She was feisty, adventurous, and hated staying in one place for very long. The extravagant clothes and the lavish parties held little interest for her.

So the idea of being tied down to some Prince and forced to live in another kingdom was not her idea of a good time. The young blonde was far from being a romantic, but when she finally got married she was hoping it would be for love and not whatever this was.

But her kingdom needed her more and if that meant having to marry this guy to save her people, then she'd do it. It was her duty as a Princess, and though she wasn't much of a Princess in other respects, she could at least do what was best for her people.

"I guess you have a busy day tomorrow then." Snow mentioned, trying to hide the sadness in her voice. Upon accepting, Emma was supposed to make her way to the Prince's kingdom as soon as possible. Which meant she'd be leaving tomorrow morning.

The young princess let out a sigh, "I guess your right..." Her mother wrapped an arm around her back and gave her daughter's arm a gentle squeeze, "Then let's make tonight count."

Next morning Emma was dressed in a light green dress and was standing just outside the castle in front of her family's carriage which was to take her to the Prince's castle. A letter had been sent yesterday afternoon via carrier pigeon to the Prince, of Emma's acceptance to the proposal.

Snow approached with teary eyes and gave her daughter a tight hug, "We'll keep searching for a solution, even up until the moment you have to say 'I do.' You deserve to find love on your own, not because you were forced into it."

Emma smiled sadly, "Thanks mom." As Snow left, her father made his way over to her. A look of disappoint on his face, "I've let you and your mother down. I should have been able to fix this. It shouldn't have come down to this, I failed." Emma shook her head. "You and Mom have already done so much for this kingdom, it's my turn this time. Don't blame yourself."

Charming pulled his daughter into a hug, "Keep strong." Emma nodded, and James joined his wife standing at the gate. As Emma got inside the carriage they waved her off as she set out to the neighboring kingdom.

Emma let out a heavy sigh, she could feel her freedom slipping through her fingers. _'Maybe it won't be so bad.' _she thought. Oh who was she kidding, of course it would be. The young princess was being traded like cattle. She tried her best to not think about it and just enjoy the freedom she still had left.

The wooden wheels of the vehicle let out a slight creek every now and again as it would roll over a bump on the path. Gazing out the side window, she watched the trees whiz by as they drove along.

Suddenly the carriage came to an abrupt stop which sent Emma flying forward into the seat across from her. After regaining her balance, she called out to the driver. "What was that?" But there was no answer.

The door then violently swung open and a gloved hand gripped tightly around her upper arm, roughly dragging her out of the carriage. As she's pulled out she sees that the guards she was traveling with are all dead on the ground. Her eyes widen and she can feel a rush of cold throughout her body.

It's then that she finds a dagger against her throat. She sharply inhales as she feels the cool blade against her skin. Tilting her head up, Emma can see that she's being restrained by a large and stocky troll. Another man snickers and jumps down from the roof of the carriage, then makes his way towards her. He's a rather weasely fellow, with a scar that runs diagonally down from his eyebrow to his cheek. The troll lowers the knife some but still keeps her tightly restrained

"Going somewhere are we Princess?" The man says grabbing her chin to look at him. She sneers trying to jerk away from her captor. "What do you want from me?" The young girl asks disdainfully.

"_I _don't want anything, but the person who hired us wants you dead." Tensing up, Emma's eyes go wide and she tries to prevent the fear from settling in the pit of her stomach.

"We were guaranteed a fine chunk of change for your head. It's a sad day when a Princess is worth more dead than alive. Ransoms tend to fetch for far more than bounties." He says with a smirk. "But given the trouble your kingdom is in you aren't worth much. Worthless really."

_'Worthless?' _The words stung like salt on a wound. Was that what she had become?

"At least were getting something out of this." He said with a shrug. The man headed towards the front of the carriage, but just as he was beside his partner in crime he callously says, "Kill her."

A jolt of adrenaline suddenly rushes through her and the princess shoves her elbow back hard, delivering a sharp blow to the troll's gut. The man let out a grunt and stumbled backwards as he let go of her. The troll then proceeded to fall back, landing directly on top of the scar faced fellow. It was then that Emma used this opportunity to run.

"Get off me you twit and go after her!" The man called out from beneath the troll that was squashing him. As they struggled to their feet, the two ran off to pursue the princess.

* * *

**A/N: No Huntsman in this chapter, sorry. I had originally intended for him to be but because I cut the chapter in half, his introduction occurs in the next one. No worries though, he shows up ****_very _****early in chapter 2. But since he wasn't in this chapter, I'll give you guys a little teaser of the next chapter to keep your interest:**

[As she comes around a bend, she turns to see the Huntsman sitting up against the same tree he was leaning against before, sharpening his arrows and adjusting his bow. Her jaw drops. "You have to be kidding me..." Emma muttered shaking her head. "I've been walking around for the past half hour only to wind up in the exact same place as before."

The Huntsman stares back at her with a rather amused grin. She glares at him in return which only makes him more amused. _'Humans are such funny creatures.'_]


	2. Lost And Found

Emma was running so fast and so hard that her lungs felt like they were on fire, but she had to keep going. She wasn't sure how long she had been running for but she hadn't looked back since she started. Finally turning behind her to see if they were still on her trail, she suddenly felt her body make contact with something that gave way underneath her.

She found herself falling, but the fall was cushioned by something that wasn't the ground. She shifted her position some and sat up. Underneath her form was a rugged young man, just a few years older than herself. His intense blue eyes stared up at her under a mess of curly brown locks.

There's a hint of surprise in his expression as he looks up at her. It wasn't an everyday occurence seeing people in these woods that weren't hunters. Seeing a woman here was even more suprising. He watched as her golden ringlets of hair, which drapped over her shoulders, shined a bit in the sunlight.

They both just stared at each other a few moments, neither of them saying anything. It was then that the fellow finally spoke up, "You're kneeling on my hand." He tells her.

His voice snapped her out of her staring and she rolled over off of him so that he could sit up. "Sorry."

The young man looks her over, "You're being hunted." He states simply. She's a bit taken aback by his comment. "How can you tell?" Emma asked him curiously.

"You exhibit the characteristics of a hunted animal: frantic, jumpy, irregular breathing."

Emma furrowed her brows. _'Did he just call me an animal?' _

Examining her a moment more, he then adds, "From the looks of it your pursuers had the intent to kill, not capture."

Emma stares at him wide-eyed. His ability to read the situation is surprisingly accurate. Just who exactly was this guy anyway? The man was dressed in leather and animals furs, a quiver was slung over his shoulder. He must have been a hunter of some type it would appear. That would explain the animal references.

"Observant. Important for a hunter. The name's Emma. How about you?"

"Huntsman." The man tells her plainly.

"Huntsman? That's your name?" She cocked a suspicious eyebrow at him. Surely he was teasing her or didn't trust her enough to give her his real name.

"It's the only thing I've ever been called." He answers in a hollow tone. She blankly stared at him for a moment. What exactly did he mean by that?

Emma then stands up and brushes herself off. Looking around, it seems like she lost the two men who were after her. But she stills needs to keep moving though, just to be safe. "Well it was nice to meet you Huntsman, but I have to be going. You know, escaping my captors, meeting someone for the first time. Fun stuff like that." Sarcasm drenched the last part.

"Meeting someone?" He found himself asking her. He's not even exactly sure why he asked her that to be honest. Normally he had very little interested in people. But for some strange reason, he found himself curious this time around.

"My fiancé." She states blandly with a slight hint of disdain. And for a brief moment Emma thought she saw a flicker of disappointment cross his face, surely she was seeing things.

"Meet? You've never met your betrothed?" The Huntsman asked rather puzzled. Granted, he knew virtually nothing about love or marriage but he did know that one usually knows their significant other before marrying them, so he thought at least.

"Arranged marriage." Emma answers plainly.

Letting out a sigh, she straightens up. "I better get going. It's gonna take a while to get there by foot." Emma nods towards him then turns to leave.

"These woods can be rather tricky." He called out to her as he shifted his position to lean his back against the trunk of a nearby tree.

"I can take care of myself!" She shouted as she ventured into the forest. The man simply shook his head as she left. Emma gives one more quick look back over her shoulder at him before going.

She makes her way past some trees, and over a few rocks as she presses on. The blonde spends half her time having to lift up her dress to avoid getting stuck. Never has she hated dresses more in her life. She couldn't have just worn pants like she wanted, no, she was expected to wear a dress and look prim and proper on her way to meet the Prince.

As she comes around a bend, she turns to see the Huntsman sitting up against the same tree he was leaning against before, sharpening his arrows and adjusting his bow. Her jaw drops. "You have to be kidding me..." Emma muttered shaking her head. "I've been walking around for the past half hour only to wind up in the exact same place as before?"

The Huntsman stares back at her with a rather amused grin. She glares at him in return which only makes him more amused. _'Humans are such funny creatures.' _

The Princess had been in these woods many times before, both with her parents and on the occasions where'd she sneak out as a child. So she was somewhat familiar with them, but she had never been this far into them before. Not to mention her run through the woods trying to escape had left her with little idea of what direction was home and what direction was to the other kingdom.

If she returned home, she feared once her parents had learned of the attack that they would deem the marriage too dangerous, which was something that she couldn't risk. Her only option now was to get to the other kingdom somehow. And by the looks of it this hunter was her best option of doing that.

Emma hated asking for help though. She always fancied herself an independent person, quite stubbornly so actually. But if she ever wanted to make her way out of the forest, she knew she'd need this man's help, whether she liked it or not.

"How well do you know these woods?" She asked him.

"Better than most." The Huntsman answered confidently.

Taking in a deep breath, she let out a defeated sighed. "You would think I'd have much better exploring skills with a mother like Snow White." Emma confessed dryly to herself before quickly clamping her hand over her mouth after realizing that she had just spoken it out loud.

The hunter stopped what he was doing, which meant he had indeed heard her. "Snow White?" Surprise filled his tone. He tilted his head up to look at her, " That would mean... You're Princess Emma?"

The blonde winces, well there went her chance of keeping a low profile around him. She can not believe that she outed herself like this. She blames the stress of the chase from earlier for her slip of the tongue, normally she's far more composed than this in these situations.

"Kinda..." She said, smiling sheepishly. There was really little point in lying now.

The Huntsman wasn't exactly informed about kingdom politics, but even he had heard rumblings of the sort at the tavern about Princess Emma and her royal engagement recently. One thing was for certain, news and gossip traveled throughout the kingdom faster than any disease ever could.

The Huntsman shifted his position against the tree as he placed his arrow back in its quiver. "So the person you were heading to meet, your fiancé is..."

"The Prince from the kingdom of Braussa." She finishes. "Yeah..." Emma wasn't sure she'd ever get used to that. In less than seven days that would soon be changing to "my husband" instead of fiancé. Just the thought of it left her feeling uneasy.

"You must be happy about that, marrying a Prince and all." He stated, fiddling with a piece of tree bark that was lying on the ground.

"Oh please, you think I want to marry some pompous sniveling prince?" Granted, she'd never met this particular Prince, but given the ones she's met in the past, pompous probably wasn't all that much of a stretch. "It's either that or allow the kingdom to fall into ruins." Clenching her fist, she stared down at the ground "I don't want this."

That was the first time she had admitted out loud to anyone that this wasn't something she wanted to do. She kept a strong front for her parents to keep them from worrying, but that's all it was, just a front.

The Huntsman spares her an empathetic look. "You would really sacrifice your own happiness for that of your kingdom's?" She nods. "Being a Princess isn't easy as everyone thinks. It's not all tiaras and fancy dresses. You have to do what's best for your people so that they can be happy, even if that means that you aren't."

He could tell that she genuinely meant what she said. The Huntsman had always known humans to be these selfish and self-serving creatures, he was a bit caught off guard by this woman's selflessness. His usually distant exterior lightened ever so slightly.

"That's honorable." He comments quietly.

She gives a small smile. "Thanks."

"So..." Emma stammers, attempting to finally ask. "Can you help me get there? Or at least to the nearest town?"

He ponders for a moment, then nods. "Alright." The girl had shown an amount of integrity that he was not used to seeing in people, which made him want to help her. Normally one to avoid interactions people, this wasn't usual for him.

She's a bit shocked he agreed to it so easily, but doesn't complain. There was only about six days left to get to the kingdom of Braussa before her wedding.

"So what do you want in exchange for your services?" Emma asks him as he pushed himself off the ground to stand. He was much taller than she realized and more muscular as well.

"Nothing." The man says plainly.

The blonde's brows knit together in confusion. "Nothing? You have to want something."

The hunter crossed his arms and shook his head. "You know that someone can want to help you without wanting anything in return."

"Not when you're royalty they don't..." The princess spoke quietly under her breath. People were always looking to gain something from her or her family. There were always strings attached.

Emma sighed. "Either way I don't like owing people. So choose something."

He rolled his eyes in frustration at her continued persistance. "Stubborn girl..." The Huntsman mumbles. Thinking it over a minute he finally says, "Then I want you to outlaw the hunting of wolves in the kingdom."

"That's it?" She asked incredulously.

"That's it."

She had offered him his choice of repayment and yet all he wanted was for the hunting of wolves to be outlawed? Such an odd request, especially coming from a hunter. Any normal person would have asked for money or land, or even both. This fellow was rather interesting to say the least.

Emma nodded. "Okay. Then we have a deal."

She stuck her hand out in a gesture to shake on it, which caused the Huntsman to stare at it suspiciously. It was as if he had never seen the gesture before or that he didn't quite trust her.

"Shake?" Emma mimed the movement and he gave a nod of understanding. Sticking his hand out, it met with hers and the two shook. He could feel her soft skin against his rough calloused fingers. In that moment, it was like as if two different worlds had just crossed over into each others. Emma wasn't sure why, but the idea of that was oddly exciting.

His voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "Ready?"

She shook off the notion and nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for all of the lovely reviews you guys! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. By the way, do you guys like the idea of little teaser bits for the next chapter like I did with the first one? If that's the case, I'll edit this section later with a preview for chapter 3.**


	3. Trading Words

"How do you know these woods so well anyway?" Emma asks as she follows the Huntsman through the woods, stray branches smacking her in the face every so often.

He's quiet a moment before answering, "I've lived in them my entire life."

"You mean like in one of the small towns in the forest?"

Before he can answer, the sound of a rustling bush can be heard to their left. The Huntsman holds his hand up a moment, signaling for her not to move.

The shaking grows gradually louder until finally the mysterious source makes its appearance.

Out from the bush comes a large grey wolf, with one black eye and one red. Emma stands frozen, she's never seen a real life wolf before.

The Huntsman let's out a relieved sigh, "It's only you boy." The animal approaches and rubs his head underneath the man's hand in a friendly manner.

The wolf then turns its head to look at Emma, who hasn't moved a muscle since he came out of the bushes. The Huntsman looks in her direction then back at the wolf, "She's fine."

Giving her the once over, the creature then makes his way over to her and nuzzles it's cold wet nose against her palm. "Hey that tickles!" She exclaimed while laughing, finally loosening her up. "Is he yours?" The blonde asked staring up at the Huntsman.

"He's my..." The hunter trails off, uncertain if he should tell her the truth or not. She'll probably want nothing to do with him if he tells her, not that it should matter to him. Shaking off the thought, he simply tells her, "He's a friend." Emma nods and gives the wolf a quick pet on the head as she greets her newest traveling companion.

While on this journey, she has learned that the Huntsman is not exactly the most chatty of people it would seem. It doesn't appear that he's being rude, but just that small talk isn't something he's used to making with people.

Even despite learning of her Princess status he doesn't seem to treat her any different, which is a refreshing change of pace. It's been nice to travel around without being told every five minutes to "Be careful Princess Emma!" or asked "Do you need any assistance Princess Emma?" She finally has the chance to appreciate the woods for the first time.

After a couple more hours of walking, the sun is starting to almost set. Emma's legs are sore and extremely tired, but she doesn't admit to it out loud. None the less, the Huntsman can tell she's just about reached her limit.

"It's starting to get dark. We should rest for the night." Despite being exhausted, Emma has to at least put up an argument, as to not appear weak.

"I can keep going." She tells him confidently.

He blankly stares at her in return. "I'll get us food, you can help collect some wood for the fire."

Her mouth dropped slightly at the brush off as the Huntsman heads off in the other direction, bow set and ready to hunt. What make shim think she's even hungry? It's then her stomach lets out a growl of hunger at the thought of food. She sighed, a small part of her hated the fact that he was right.

The Princess then wanders around the area that they've decided to camp at for the night, looking for branches and twigs for the fire. Once Emma collects a good amount of firewood, she places them down near a pile of leaves. Looking around, she then spots the Huntsman and makes her way over to where he is.

"What are you doing?" Emma asks him, mildly confused as she finds him crouching in front of the dead deer. "I'm thanking the animal. It died so that we may live. It deserves our gratitude."

She tilts her head slightly, "I never thought of it like that before." Emma then kneels down beside him and places her hands on her lap. Glancing over at the Huntsman then down at the animal, she takes a breath "Thank you for your sacrifice." The blonde then shuts her eyes and gives a sincere nod at the creature.

He stares at her with utter astonishment, people had always made fun of his way of hunting and how he thanked his kills, but here was this woman actually joining him.

Just who exactly was this girl? He'd never met anyone like her before in his life.

When she was done, she looked over at him and he quickly shook off his surprised look. "Want me to start the fire while you tend to this?" The Huntsman cocked a surprised eyebrow, "You can start a fire?"

The blonde stands up and heads back over to where she placed the wood. "Don't look so shocked. Just because I'm a princess does not mean I don't know my way around a fire. My parents are far from being your normal king and queen. My father was a shepherd and at one point my mother was a wanted criminal." She grinned, oddly proud of her parents past adventures.

The wolf trots his way over to Emma, carrying an extra few sticks in his mouth for the fire. She smiles down at him and gives him a quick scratch behind the ear. "Thanks for the help boy." The creature happily wags his tail back and forth in delight.

The Huntsman watches her from afar as she goes about starting a fire. It's odd how well she fits here, despite the fact that she's a princess. He'd never been around another person for this long before. It's odd for him, but it's not as bad as he thought it would be. Turning back to the deer, he finishes his preparations for them to eat.

The next morning Emma is awoken by the sudden shaking of her arm. Her eyes fly open and she looks around frantically, it's still slightly dark out. "What? What?" She asks in complete disarray, still trying to get her bearings.

"Come on. We're getting an early start today." The Huntsman answers quietly.

Emma groans. "Just five more minutes..." She whines. A morning person is one thing that Emma certainly is not.

"When you travel with me we leave early. Now come on." He gives her a small nudge and Emma begrudgingly stands up. She then proceeds to trudge behind him, muttering complaints under her breath about how early it is.

"Hey," She asks looking around. "Where's the wolf?"

"He goes off on his own sometimes." The Huntsman went on the explain.

_'Maybe the wolf has a girlfriend.' _Emma randomly thought to herself as she yawned.

While walking ahead, the hunter then hears a sound from behind him. He turns around to find Emma on the ground, her dress is caught among some low hanging branches. "I hate dresses..." Emma mutters. Her dress is torn and dirty from the trek through the forest.

An amused look makes its way across the Huntsman's face. She's quickly back on her feet though and brushes herself off. "There's a town just up ahead." He gestures in its direction. "You can buy some new clothes there better suited for travel. Do you have any money?" She pulls out her coin purse from her pocket and shows it to him. The Huntsman nods.

It only takes about fifteen minutes for the town he spoke of to finally come into view. Emma walks on ahead but then notices that the Huntsman has stopped following her. She looks back at him.

"Aren't you coming?" Emma asked. He shook his head, "No." She stares at him, waiting for an explanation but it never comes. "I'll be right here when your done." After blinking a few times, she shrugs and turns back around, heading into the town.

Emma makes her way through the bustling marketplace filled with people. Considering how busy it is here, it must be a trading town not far off from where the kingdom's border lies. There's all kinds of stands selling things from food to jewelry to knick-knacks. Scanning the various stands, she finally finds one that's selling clothing.

Emma approaches the shop, whose owner was a very old woman with long white straggly hair, wearing a large grey shawl over her. The vibe Emma gets from woman leaves her feeling a bit uneasy, but she tries her best to ignore it.

Searching through the items, her eyes finally land on tan pair of trousers and red blouse, she's always had an affinity for that color. The young blonde picks them up to examine them. They feel lightweight but durable, making it well suited for travel, just what she needs.

"I'll take these." Emma tells the woman as she gestures to the clothing in her hands. She nods. "Apple red is a very good color for you." The woman tells her with an eery smile. The Princess gives her a hesitant look and cautiously thanks her, as she reaches into her coin purse for some money to pay.

After handing her the money, it's then that Emma feels a rough tap on her shoulder. She turns her head to find a blonde bearded man dressed in furs standing before her. Another hunter of some sort it would seem.

He gives her the once over, his eyes lingering in certain areas for much longer than they should. She resists the urge to roll her eyes, then tries her best to ignore him and pretends to still be looking through the clothes at the shop. But he won't give up.

"Hey," The man reaches out a rough hand and forcefully grabs her shoulder, physically turning her around to face him. "I was tryin to talk to ya." Emma crinkled her nose some as his hot breath hit her face.

The bearded fellow notices her reaction and scowls, "What, you think you're to good for me?" He asks getting in her face. "You think you're a little princess or something?"

A flicker of fear flashes through her eyes at the mention of the word "princess". She can tell he's just mouthing off and he doesn't know her true identity, but even still the comment has her on alert.

"Leave her alone." The Huntsman warns, as he suddenly appears beside Emma. His eyes hold an even deeper intensity to them than she's seen before.

"She's with you? What'd you do, drug her? Because there's no way a pretty little thing like that would ever have anything to do with you otherwise." The man wears a look of disgust on his face as he eyes her companion. The Huntsman flinches slightly as the words sink in. Frowning slightly, he lowers his gaze.

From the looks of it, it would appear these two have met before. She glares at the man "I'd much rather go with him than the likes of you." The Huntsman looks up and glances over at her. Was she... defending him?

"And she's a feisty one too! Just how I like em." He says grinning widely, revealing a few missing teeth in the process. Emma rolls her eyes in annoyance at the fellow. She strongly has to resist the urge to smack him.

The man then turns back towards the Huntsman and crosses his arms. "Well she'll learn quickly just how worthless you are."

The word "worthless" sent the memory of her attempted capture flashing back through Emma's mind._ "But given the trouble your kingdom is in, you aren't worth much. Worthless really." _That term had become a sore spot for her. Fury started bubbling up within her, she clenched her fists so tight her knuckles turned white.

"How dare you call someone else worthless! You have no right!" She exclaimed, completely losing her cool. The Huntsman stared at her wide-eyed in shock. The other hunter had a similar expression, though his quickly shifted to that of irritation.

The man sneered, "Look woman, I suggest you learn to keep your mouth shut and know your place."

Emma quickly realizes she's starting to draw attention to them, which is the last thing she needs right now. But even still, she won't just stand here and be belittled by this man.

Taking a step forward, she looks him in the eye and says "And who are you to say what a woman's place is?"

The man lets out a growl. "I told you to shut it!" The hunter then gives her a hard shove, sending her falling back and into the dirt. Before she could even react the Huntsman has the man pushed up against a nearby building, the blade of his knife pressed against the man's throat. "Touch her again and I won't hesitate to use this." He threatens fiercely. Emma looks up it him with surprise and awe at his sudden protective nature of her.

After a tense staring match, the man snorts and stumbles forward as the Huntsman releases his grip on him. The entire crowd in the marketplace is staring at the spectacle. All eyes are on them.

The hunter brushes himself off then spits in the nearby dirt, wiping his mouth against the cuff his sleeve. He shoots them both a dirty look, "Get out of here Huntsman, you're not wanted. And take that wench of yours with you." And with that, the man stomps off towards the local tavern, shoving a few nearby patrons out of the way as he does so.

The Huntsman reaches his hand out to help her up off the ground, "Come on, let's go." She reaches up for it and he helps pull her to her feet.

As they make their way through the crowd to leave, a hushed murmur circulates the area, none of which speak positive about the Huntsman.

"Pathetic. That man's a joke."

"Can you even call someone like that human?"

"That freak should stay in the woods where he belongs."

A feeling of pity wells up inside her as the insults fly. The crowds reaction confuses the young girl. He came to her defense against some brutish thug and yet he's the one who the crowd is insulting? It doesn't make sense, she feels like she's missing something here.

Emma stares at his back as he leads the way through the crowd. Part of her wants him to turn around and look at her so she could see how he was doing. But he doesn't, he just continues to press on ahead.

* * *

**A/N: I can not believe how many reviews I got last chapter, thank you guys so much! Some of you guys said you enjoyed having previews for the next chapter, so I'll try to keep those up. Here's a small bit from the next chapter:**

[The Huntsman looks off into the woods dejectedly. "You can leave now if you want. I... I won't stop you."

She stares at him with genuine confusion, "Why would I leave? You're still going to help me get to the other kingdom aren't you?"

He gave her an incredulous look. She still wanted to travel with him? He was prepared for a slew of insults and a swift exit, not someone who was actually going to stick around. This wasn't a reaction he's ever encountered before.]


	4. Running On Empty

They finally make their way out of the town and back into the forest. The Huntsman's pace slows a little once the village is out of sight. He hasn't spoken a word in over thirty minutes.

The tense silence leaves Emma uncomfortable, she can feel the tension emanating from him. It's not directed at her and she knows that, but she can't help but feel a bit guilty about the situation. If she hadn't of stirred up trouble with that other hunter in town that incident wouldn't have happened. She forced him to come into town when he didn't want to.

That's when it dawns on her, "That was why you didn't want to go into town, wasn't it?" She asks quietly, finally breaking the silence between them. The Huntsman stops walking but doesn't look back at her. His shoulders sink and he lets out a heavy sigh, "Yes." He admits.

"Do they always treat you like that?" The blonde asked, now standing beside him, trying to see his face. He shifts his gaze down towards the ground. "For as long as I can remember." He truly couldn't recall a time where he went into town and he wasn't ridiculed in some way. It had gotten to the point where the hunter only went into town if he was low on supplies or unable to find enough food for the night.

Emma shakes her head, still confused. "I don't understand. Why?"

The Huntsman clenches his jaw and swallows hard. "People don't take kindly to those raised by wolves. To them I'm just a... just an animal." His voice holds a hurt loneliness to it, which he tries to hide.

_'He was raised by wolves?'_ She's a bit taken aback, but then it all starts making sense. Like the reason why he asked for the hunting of wolves to be outlawed. Because they were the ones to raise him, to him they're his family and he wants them protected.

Part of her wants to pry further into the matter, but she can tell he's in no mood to do so. Nor does he seem like the type of person to spill those type of personal details about himself so easily. He's pretty guarded when it comes to that, she gets it.

Now that she knows, he's waiting for her to leave, just like they all do when they learn about his past. He shouldn't care if she leaves, he just met her. But there's an unfamiliar part of him that doesn't really want her to.

The Huntsman looks off into the woods dejectedly. "You can leave now if you want. I... I won't stop you."

She stares at him with genuine confusion, "Why would I leave? You're still going to help me get to the other kingdom aren't you?"

He gave her an incredulous look. She still wanted to travel with him? He was prepared for a slew of insults and a swift exit, not someone who was actually going to stick around. This wasn't a reaction he's ever encountered before.

Once getting over the shock, the man finally manages a nod in response.

"Shall we get going?" He asks her.

The Princess nods, "Just let me change my clothes." Never had she been more excited for a change of clothes before. The mud that caked the lace around bottom of her dress had start to make the garment feel much heavier than it was, leaving her getting tired much quicker.

She grabs her new clothes and heads behind a nearby tree with a thick trunk. "No peaking!" Emma shouts sternly from behind it. The Huntsman shakes his head in amusement and does as she says, keeping his eyes looking straight ahead and away from the tree.

Emma peaks her head around to check if he's really doing what she says or not, she's surprised to see he actually is. Most men in this situation would disregard the request and look anyway. He's surprisingly very gentleman like for a man raised by wolves.

After another few minutes she's finally done. "Okay, you can look now." Emma tells him as she walks out from behind the tree, now dressed in the red blouse and tan trousers that she had gotten from town. The Huntsman, now rejoined by his wolf companion, turns around simultaneously towards her.

The red blouse makes her golden blonde locks seem even more vibrant than usual, even despite the fact that she's been traveling in the woods for the past two days. Both man and wolf stare at her momentarily. Though the clothing is much more casual than her dress, she still radiates that same essence that catches they're attention.

Regaining his focus, he gives a nod towards the direction they're headed next.

A few more hours pass and as the two are walking, the Huntsman suddenly stops, causing Emma to practically run straight into the back of him. "It's going to rain." He states suddenly.

Emma shrugs, "I don't mind a little rain." He shakes his head. "Not this kind of rain. We'll camp here for the night." He's had a rough day and she thinks it better not to argue with him. They're still pretty good on time when it comes to reaching their destination, not that she's in any rush to get there. To be honest, there have been times that she actually forgets all together about where she's really headed.

Sure enough the Huntsman is right. The rain that falls isn't the gentle occasional droplets of a light rainstorm. They're hard and relentless drops that are falling so fast it actually stings her skin. It actually feels like icicles hitting her, the water is that cold and sharp.

As the blonde stands there with her arms crossed, shivering slightly, the Huntsman removes the cloak from his back and offers it to her. "Here."

Emma tilts her head and cocks an eyebrow, "What?"

He gestures to the cloak again, "Take it. To keep off the rain tonight."

"What about you?"

The hunter shrugs, "I'll be fine."

The blonde gives him that same blank stare look he gave her the other day, the one she got after she told him that she could keep going, even though she was clearly exhausted. It's the look that essentially means, 'You might say that but I don't quite believe you'.

"We'll share it." She says to him, less as a suggestion and more as a requirement.

So the two sit huddled underneath a large tree that helps shelter them from the rain. The wolf lays across both their laps making for additional body heat. Aside from the time Emma fell on him, this is the closest the two have ever physically been next to each other. It's a tad awkward but actually rather pleasant, though Emma would never admit to it.

The wolf's head is resting in her lap and she gives him a scratch behind the ears. As per usual he wags his tail playfully in response, which, because of their positions, winds up swatting the Huntsman in the face in the process. The blonde can't help but stifle a laugh at the comedic event.

After an extended period of silence only filled by the sound of the rain hitting the ground, he asks her, "What was that about back there?"

"Huh?"

"Your little outburst in the marketplace, that couldn't have all been for my benefit." The Huntsman tilts his head to look at her, a look of curiosity crosses his face.

Emma stares down at her hands awkwardly as she rubs her fingers together for warmth. "One of my captors... they told me because of the trouble my kingdom was in, that I was basically worthless. He made it seem like my worth as a person didn't matter. So when I heard that hunter say that to you, I couldn't just sit there and not say anything. No one should call someone else worthless." Just using the word left a sour taste in her mouth.

"Worth is like beauty, people view it in things differently. Some people may see a sapling as worthless, but give it time to grow and it can offer shelter to those who need it. Just like this one." He pushes his back against the tree's trunk for emphasis. "Everything has worth and beauty. Some people are just to ignorant to see it."

"Quite the philosopher aren't you Huntsman?" The Princess says with a slight chuckle.

"You have worth, don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

She smiles softly, "Thanks." After a moment she adds, "I'm sorry about that by the way. I didn't mean to cause trouble for you in town." At this point, she thinks that he probably wishes he had asked for more than just outlawing the hunting of wolves when he agreed to help her.

The hunter shakes his head, "It wasn't your fault. It would have happened anyway if I had gone into town." He lets out a sigh, "Because of how I was raised, they'll never see me as human." Quietly he adds, "Maybe they're right."

Quickly pushing his own statement aside before Emma can even respond, the Huntsman tells her "It's getting late, we should get some rest."

Emma gives a slight nod. Wrapping the cloak tighter around her shoulder, she quietly told him "Just for the record, you're not an animal."

The edge of his mouth quirked up a little at the comment, which was his way of saying thank you.

"Goodnight Emma."

The princess lets out a small yawn, "Night Huntsman."

When Emma awakens the next morning she's surprised to find it's light out and even more surprisingly, the Huntsman is still asleep. As she goes to stretch a little she realizes that the cloak they were sharing is now solely on her. He must have let her have it at some point during the night, she smiles at the gesture.

She's tempted to startle the him awake, just so she could get him back for how he woke her up the other day, but she decides against. "Someone's sleeping late." She grins teasingly.

"I'm not sleeping." The Huntsman answers, not even the slightest hint on tiredness can be found in his voice. Opening his eyes, he quickly pushes himself off of the ground and to his feet. The action basically demonstrates the fact that he's been up for a while now and that he must have just been letting her sleep. Emma frowns a little, she was hoping to have one upped him for the first time. She's a little disappointed, but still glad for the extra hour of sleep.

Sighing, the blonde stands up and brushes herself off some before turning to face him. But before she can manage a witty comment, out of nowhere, a dagger flies right between their faces and embeds itself into the bark of the tree beside them. They both turn simultaneously to see two men on horseback headed straight towards them at very a worrisome speed.

"Run!" The Huntsman tells her, giving her a nudge in the other direction.

There was no argument at that suggestion. Taking off running, the blonde is rather happy that at least this time she doesn't have to worry about tripping over her dress like before.

"Zig zag through the trees!" He instructs her.

"What? Why?" Emma asks in confusion as she looks back at him while running.

"The horses won't be able to maneuver with all these tree. That will force them to go by foot, it'll be much easier to lose them that way."

Emma gives a strong nod. "Right!" The Huntsman thinks pretty quick on his feet, she's realized. Taking his suggestion she weaves back and forth between the trees, checking back behind her every now and again to make sure he's still there behind her.

As the two men on horseback try to pursue them, one of the men's horses rears up, letting out a loud whinny when it comes close to hitting a tree. The action practically throws the man off of it's back in the process. Tightly pulling on the reins, the horse lands back down on its hooves hard.

"Stupid horse!" He mutters as he jumps down from off of the creature. The second man dismounts off his animal and follows in behind the other fellow as they continue their pursuit.

It's then that Emma catches a good of glimpse of the men through the trees. Her eyes go wide upon seeing them. It was the same weasely man and stocky troll that had attacked her carriage a few days earlier. As she's standing there, the troll turns in her direction and makes eye contact with her.

Suddenly Emma's entire body freezes up, she can't move. No matter what she does she can't make a single muscle work. It's like she's being restrained by some unseen force. That fear she felt from her first encounter with these men, when they had a dagger at her throat, suddenly come rushing back to her all over again.

Noticing his companion has stopped, the Huntsman attempts to get her attention. "Emma come on." He whispers sharply. But there's no reaction, she's still frozen.

He then shakes her arm frantically, "Emma! Emma!" The hunter tries to keep his voice low enough that they won't be spotted but loud enough to draw her out of her stunned state. But she doesn't respond, her eyes remain transfixed on the same area.

The Huntsman spots the two men heading in their direction and pushes Emma up against a tree to hide her from sight, shielding her in the process. Just as he does so, another throwing knife flies by. The blade just barely grazes the back of his neck before landing in the trunk of another tree. The action finally snaps the blonde out of her daze, inhaling sharply as she comes to.

Bringing a finger to his lips, he quietly shushes her as the sound of footsteps on leaves grow steadily louder as the men come towards them. The Huntsman's face is so close to hers that she can practically feel his stubble against her cheek. Her nervous breaths reflect back onto her from off of his face.

The two of them tense up as the sound of the men approaching swiftly stops all together. Holding their breath, they wait to see what the men plan to do next.

One of the men pace back and forth a bit, then stops again. "I can't believe we lost her again!" The weasely fellow shout. Gripping his hands tightly around his throwing knives, he decides to take out his aggression on a nearby innocent tree by slashing at it repeatedly.

"This was supposed to be easy money." He mutters in irritation. Slipping the blades back into their holster, he gives the landscape a look over once more before he stomps off in the other direction. "Come on, maybe she went this way." His ever silent troll companion follows behind him further into the forest.

When the men's footsteps gradually become quieter and more distant, they both let out a relieved sigh. The two stay in that position against the tree still until they're absolutely certain the men have left the area.

"I think they're gone." The Huntsman tells her, his breath tickling against her ear as he does so. A subtle tingling sensation creeps its way up Emma's neck.

"Yeah, I think you're right." She answers. Despite the danger being gone, her heart is still racing for some reason.

He lowers his head until his eyes are level with hers, "Are you alright?" Traces of concern lace his voice.

"Thank you." She answers breathlessly.

It takes her another moment before she can finally answer again, "Those two men, they were the same guys I was running from the day I ran into you. The ones who tried to kill me." Back then, Emma had hoped that was the last she had seen of those two. Apparently she was wrong.

He seems a bit surprised by that answer. "How did they find you?"

She shakes her head uncertain. "I don't know... Somebody in town must have tipped them off or something." The usually brave Emma was now starting to question if she was really safe anywhere. Someone was obviously after her and they had no intention on letting up until they got what they wanted.

Looking down, she opens and closes her hand, making sure she can move it fully now. She then does a similar action with her feet to make sure they works as well. It seems like everything is back in working order once again.

The Huntsman stares at her with mild confusion as to why she's doing that so she explains, "I couldn't move. When I looked at that troll's eyes by body suddenly locked up and I have no idea why. I felt so helpless, and I hate feeling helpless." The blonde confesses, slamming the side of her fist against the tree behind her in aggravation.

The Huntsman furrows his brows a moment and then walks over to the knife embedded in the tree. He runs his fingers across the handle, examining the detail work etched on the wood.

As he does so, Emma's eyes land on the cut just below the nape of his neck that he sustained from the dagger.

"Your bleeding." She tells him, a bit of worry showing in her voice.

"It's just a scratch." The Huntsman answers, shrugging it off as he continues to examine the weapon, not even fazed in the slightest by the wound. He's had far worse injuries than that before, this was nothing to him.

His nonchalant attitude of the situation irks her. "I could have gotten you killed!" Emma yells in frustration. She's starting to feel like all she is to him is just a burden, all she does is cause him trouble. If something had happened to him it would have been her fault. "Why didn't you keep running?"

Hearing the intensity in her voice, he turns around to face her. "A wolf always looks after one of its pack." He answers simply.

She's a bit caught off guard by the comment, did she really hear him right? Tilting her head slightly, she asked "You... You consider me one of your pack?"

His breath catches in the back of his throat at the question. The usually unflappable Huntsman swallowed hard trying to formulate an answer of some sort.

The hunter clears his throat and looks away, "Something like that..." He mutters, while he tries to casually brush it off. A smile crept its way across her face. She'd never seen him squirm like that before, it was actually kind of cute. Focusing his attention back on the weapon, he informs Emma of something he's noticed.

"The markings on this handle, they're from the Aciandra clan." Gesturing to the marks, Emma makes her way over and stands beside him to take a look for herself. He goes on to explain, "They're a ruthless group of mercenaries for hire, that'll do anything for the right amount of money. It's members are incredibly skilled and some are even adept at using magic."

Turning his attention away from the dagger and back to the princess, he then tells her, "That troll must have used magic on you, that's why you were frozen and couldn't move." Emma's jaw drops in surprise, she hadn't quite expected that. It was the first time she had ever had magic used on her before, it was a bit unnerving to say the least.

The hunter looks up towards the sky to check the sun's position. "We should keep moving." They needed to get as far away from those men as possible before nightfall, especially if one of them was capable of using magic. The duo then headed in the opposite direction of where the mercenaries were off to.

The Huntsman doesn't seem as confident as he usually is during their travels at the moment. Emma has a hunch they've reached a point that is beyond where his normal hunting grounds usually are. She had already spotted a few birds she had never seen before which meant they were no longer in her kingdom anymore.

"I think we're lost." She tells him as she looks around the forest. Their run through the woods to escape had led them off the beaten trail so it wasn't all suprising they were having some trouble navigating. "Maybe we should try to find someone and ask for directions."

The Huntsman scowls, "We're not lost." he answers gruffly. His knowledge of the forest was like that of the animals, even if he had lost his way it wouldn't take long before he could figure out where they were. It was a skill he had honed and was quite proud of.

Emma rolled her eyes, "What is with guys and asking for directions?" shaking her head, she treads up a grassy sloping hill to get a better view of the area. Scanning the land, her eyes finally spot something off in the distance.

The blonde cupped her hands around her mouth called down to him. "Hey, I think I found something."

Making his way up the slope, the Huntsman stands beside her and looks off into the direction she's pointing.

"Look there's a house up ahead maybe someone there can help give us directions." Despite the fact he was certain he could find the way, the Huntsman knew better than to try to argue with Emma. Though it could be trouble at times, he actually admires her stubborn determination.

So the two set off towards the house in the distance, not sure of who they'll find living there.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter took a bit longer than expected but it's my longest chapter yet so hopefully that helps. Once again thank you all so very much for the reviews! I'm so happy to see you guys enjoying this. No teaser preview this time around, but I will say that next chapter will feature a well known character in it. Oh _dearie_ me, who could it be? You'll have to _deal_ with guessing until next chapter.**


	5. Desire Among Fire

It doesn't take long before they arrive at the place Emma had spotted from the hill. It sits nestled among a group of trees in what appears to be a secluded area of the woods, far off the main road.

The house is quite large, but is actually rather quaint in its appearance. A garden of red rose bushes surrounded the entire perimeter of the home. The scent of the floral reaches their noses as the wind picks up for a moment.

They make their way up to the door and Emma steps forward to give a hard knock against the wood.

A minute or so passes before the door finally opens, revealing a rather old gentleman with long light brown hair.

Upon seeing the man open the door, the Huntsman physically tenses up as the instant sense of mistrust overtakes him. He guides Emma back behind him in a protective fashion. She's a bit confused by the gesture, seeing as the fellow who opened the door was simply just an old man with a cane. At least, that's what she thought.

"Well what do we have here?" The man leans slightly to the side, peering behind the Huntsman to get a good look at the girl he was hiding. A sparkle of mischief twinkled in his eye at the sight of her.

"It's not very often I find a Princess on my door step. And the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming no less." An impish grin spreads across the man's face.

Emma's caught off guard by him identifying her right on the spot. She steps aside from the Huntsman and stands firm with her arms crossed in front of the man, wearing a look of suspicion on her face. "How do you know who I am?" She asks sternly.

"I'm a past acquaintance of your parents. The name is Rumpelstiltskin." He informs them both, as he gives a slight bow.

Emma's heard many a stories about this man, his reputation was known far and wide throughout many kingdoms. Rumpelstiltskin, the master of deals. There was rarely a problem that he couldn't fix, but in exchange it always came at a hefty price. She had heard that he mysteriously went off the grid a few years ago, but nobody knew why though.

Before the blonde can even respond, suddenly an unknown woman's voice could be heard coming from inside. "Who's at the door, Rumpelstiltskin?"

It's then that the wooden door opens a bit wider to reveal a brunette haired woman standing there. The woman in question is quite a bit older than Emma herself, but is younger than that of her mother. She's dressed in a simple blue and white dress and wears a gentle smile on her face.

Given whose house this was, neither Emma nor the Huntsman had expected to find anyone else here, let alone a woman like this. They're not all to certain on how to react to this turn of events. Luckily for them the lady decides to do the talking.

"Oh, hello. My name is Belle. It's not often we get visitors out here. Please, come in." She tells them cheerfully.

Emma and the Huntsman both exchange a quick hesitative look between one another. The woman known as Belle seems kind enough, but they both decide to keep on their toes because none the less, it's still the home of Rumpelstiltskin.

The two travelers are escorted inside the house, both look around and take in their new surroundings. They're lead down the hallway and into a large room filled with rows and rows of bookshelves. For a moment Emma's convinced that she's accidentally stumbled into a library.

Rumpelstiltskin turns around to face them and sets his sights on Emma, "So what brings you to my home dearie? Shouldn't you be at the Prince's castle? If I'm not mistaken your wedding is in a few days." For a man who lived out in the middle of nowhere, he was extremely well-informed.

"_Unless_, you're here to make a deal to get out of it perhaps?" He raises an intrigued brow along with giving a devious grin, one in which the travelers had a feeling they'd be seeing a lot more of from him.

As tempting as that offer sounded, Emma knew better than to make deals with Rumpelstiltskin. No deal with him ever came easy or cheap. This was something she had to do on her own.

"Rumple, behave." Belle chastised.

_'Rumple?'_ Emma could help but stifle a laugh at that one, in which she received a sharp glare in return from Rumpelstiltskin.

Clearing her throat, she finally answered "No I'm not. We're actually here hoping you could give us some directions, we kind of lost our way."

The man leans against a mahogany desk that sits behind him, pressing his fingertips against one another. "Many a people come to me when they're lost, dearie. I'm sure I could help you, for a price of course." There was that grin of his again.

Emma rolled her eyes, _'Seriously, for directions?'. _Once again Belle had to step in, shooting him a stern look. "We'll be happy to give you directions to wherever you need to go for free, isn't that right Rumple?"

"Yes dear..." He muttered. It was quite the amazing sight to see the all powerful and feared Rumpelstiltskin reduced to mush around the sweet but strong brunette.

Belle turns towards her new guests. "Can I get you something to drink, some tea perhaps?"

The Huntsman declines the offer but Emma takes her up on it. "You wouldn't by chance have some cocoa, would you? Maybe with a cinnamon stick?" Cinnamon with cocoa was a trait she had picked up from her mother.

The woman nods and heads back off down the hallway and to the kitchen. It isn't long before she returns with 3 tea cups, two filled with tea and one filled with cocoa and a single cinnamon stick. Emma notices the cup that Belle hands Rumpelstiltskin has a slight chip on it, but she doesn't bring it up.

The two girls sit off to one side of the room while the boys are off on the other side.

"I was in a similar situation that you're in now, when I was younger." The woman informs the blonde. "My father sought out help from Rumpelstiltskin for our kingdom during the Ogre Wars. To help save my people I went to go live with him and be his maid in return for protection of my land."

"His maid? He had all those magic powers and all he wanted was a maid?" That didn't quite sound like the Rumpelstiltskin that she had heard of.

Belle takes a sip of her drink and looks over towards him. "To be honest I think he was just lonely and wanted some company more than anything." He looks up from his spinning wheel and the brunette smiles at him affectionately.

Turning back towards Emma she says, "When I came here I didn't expect to find love, but I did. Sometimes you find it in the situations you least expect them to."

The blonde casually stirs her cocoa around with the cinnamon stick. "So you're saying that it's possible I could fall in love with this Prince guy I'm supposed to marry?"

Belle nods. "But..." The brunette pauses and looks off towards to the other side of the room. Emma follows her gaze which lands on the Huntsman, who gives a gentle poke at a globe in the corner of the room, Rumpelstiltskin swats his hand away from it in a scolding manner making the two girls laugh a little.

She then continues, "If you've already found love, well then that's a different story."

Emma blinks a few times before answering. "You mean the Huntsman? It's... it's not like that. He's just helping me get to the other kingdom. That's all." Her voice lacks a sense of assurance to make it all that convincing.

Belle wasn't quite buying it, but played along and simply nodded.

The young blonde hadn't expected when she came here to find someone she'd have so much in common with. But just because Belle managed to find happiness from her situation didn't guarantee that Emma would in hers.

Meanwhile on the other side of the room the boys were having a conversation of their own, though whether you can actually call it a conversation or not is debatable. "So, what's your story my boy?" The older man asked the hunter, as he continued to spin wool on his spinning wheel.

The Huntsman remains quiet and doesn't answer, he just continues to watch the man suspiciously. His distrust of people has come back in full force, especially among this gentleman.

"Not much of a talker, eh?" Rumple comments dryly. As he expected there's still no response. After another bout of silence the hunter glances over at Emma for a minute before returning his stare.

The glance doesn't go unnoticed by the older man however, he raises an intrigued brow. "I wouldn't write off your chances just yet, dearie. A lot can happen in four days."

"I don't know what you're talking about." The Huntsman finally answers turning away from the man. Rumpelstiltskin smirks a little then shakes his head, "Whatever you say..."

It's not long before Emma and the Huntsman were both shown to their separate guest rooms in which they would sleep in for the night. Their home was plenty big, so Belle had offered them a place to stay for the evening.

The young princess stares blankly up at the ceiling above her head. Despite being in a warm comfy bed for the first time in days, she still can't seem to sleep. Her mind is plagued with thoughts of tomorrow. Letting out a long sigh of defeat, she grabs the blanket and wraps it around her shoulders and makes her way out of bed.

She then proceeds down the hall and back to the library-esque room she had spent most of the day in earlier. There's still a small fire going in the fireplace, the homes owners must have just gone to bed not long ago.

Emma grabs a log from the stack that sat neatly beside it, and threw one onto the fire. She had a feeling she was still going to be up for a while. Taking a seat in one of the nearby by chairs, she leaned her head back and let out a loud exhale as she let her mind wander for a while.

"Something on your mind?" She hears the Huntsman ask, pulling Emma out of her dazed state. She looks up from staring at the fireplace and turns her head towards him. He takes a seat in the chair across from hers and leans back.

"I was just thinking about my parents. They must have heard by now about what happened. They're probably so worried about me." The young princess always felt guilty about not being able to notify her parents that she was okay. The only real perk of getting to the Prince's castle was that at least she could get a message to them, letting them know of her safety.

The hunter unconsciously traces his finger over the outline of the arm-chair. "Your parents really care about you don't they?" The way he asks makes it appear as if wasn't a normal thing for a parent to do, to care about their child.

Emma smiles thoughtfully, "Yeah, they really do. They didn't want an arranged marriage for me." She laughs, "My father even said he forbid it, but I'm stubborn just like my mom so he knew there was no changing my mind unless I wanted to."

"That must be nice." There's a hint of sad longing in his tone.

She figures now is a good as time as any to ask about his parents, but she better tread softly. She's well aware she's venturing into dangerous territory by asking about the matter. "What about you, what about your parents?"

He gazes intensely into the crackling fire. The orange flames reflect off his dark blue eyes. "They never wanted me. When I was 3 they got sick of putting up with the charade, so one day they took me out to the woods and just left me there. Never for a second did they even look back."

Her mouth drops open slightly, she doesn't even know what to say.

He continues, "As for my wolf parents, they took good care of me for a while. But one day they went out hunting and were killed by some hunters. It's basically been me and my wolf brother ever since."

Emma's never been one to get very emotional, but the blonde can't help but feel tears prickling at her eyes over his story. She blinks them back before managing to say, "I'm so sorry Huntsman."

The hunter shakes his head, "It's fine."

After that the two sit in the room quietly for a while. She's not sure how long they've been sitting there, but the fire has died down and appears close to going out.

Emma then glances over at the chair beside her, she notices that slumber has finally over taken her traveling companion. His head is slumped against the cushioned back of the seat, a peaceful expression on his face.

She's been thinking about what will happen to her after they reach their destination, but now she can't help but wonder... What will happen to him afterwards, when this is all said and done? His wolf appears to be his only companion, and if something were to happen to him, then the Huntsman would be all alone.

Having no other family left and being treated like an outcast by the town, what would become of him? Her heart physically ached just thinking about it. "Lonely hunter..." She mumbles quietly to herself.

Glancing over at the clock sitting atop the mantle of the fireplace, she notices it's getting late and that she should probably at least _try_ to get some sleep. Given what Belle had told her, they'd reach the Prince's castle by tomorrow. Though honestly, there wasn't enough sleep in the world that could prepare her for that.

Emma lets out a sigh as she pushes herself up off of the chair and into a standing position. She starts to head towards the hallway but stops just as she's in front of where the Huntsman is dozing.

The Princess just stands in front of his sleeping form for a few minutes, watching his chest slowly rise and fall with each breath. His brown locks of hair fall over his face some.

She gently pushes a few stray curls away from his eyes. Her hand lingers near his face some, her fingers gently grazing his scruff. Catching herself, she pulls back. Shoving her hands into her pockets, she heads down the hallway back towards her room. She can still feel the soft scratchiness against her fingers.

Morning arrives and both the Princess and the hunter are ready to go. The ever kind Belle has offered the two use of some of their horses to ride to the castle. When Emma questions on how to go about returning them, Rumpelstiltskin implies that the horses will find their way back on their own. Something magic related no doubt.

"Thank you both so much for your hospitality." She tells them, the Huntsman nods in agreement at Emma's sentiment. "You two are both welcome to come to the wedding if you like." She may have said wedding, but in reality she was thinking _'Come watch me get sold off to the highest bidder.'_

Emma then pulls herself up onto the horse and throws her leg over it with ease. With parents like Snow White and Prince Charming learning to ride a horse actually came pretty easy for her.

The Huntsman on the other hand had a little more trouble. Though he quickly bonded with the hoofed creature, like he did with most animals, his effort to get on top of the animal was another story. The saddle would often tilt sideways in his many attempts to get on it. After a good 10 minutes, he finally had some success.

As they head off, the Huntsman's wolf has rejoined them and now trails alongside the horses. The animals seem a bit unnerved by the new canine presence but once detecting no threat start to relax.

The ride remains rather quiet between the traveling duo. The realization that their journey together will soon come to a close has left them not knowing what to say.

After spotting a nearby creek, Emma and the Huntsman decided to give their horses a little break.

As the two horses dip their heads down to drink from the small river, the Huntsman watches his wolf circle in and out between Emma's legs in excitement. "He's taken quite a liking to you." He tells her, grinning slightly in amusement at his companions antics.

Emma laughs, "Well I've taken quite a liking to him too." The wolf wags his tail at the comment, obviously quite pleased with that answer.

"He'll miss when you're gone." The hunter adds softly. His sentiments hold a double meaning to it, in which Emma picks up on.

The blonde looks back up at him sincerely. "He will?" She reciprocates with the same double meaning as well, though neither of them acknowledge it.

He nods in response before quickly changing subjects, "We should probably be getting back on the road." She agrees and the two get back on their horses and on their way.

It's not long after that Emma and her horse suddenly come to a complete stop. The Huntsman stops his horse right beside hers and notices her staring wide-eyed ahead.

"What is it?" He asked her.

"We're here." She stated staring up at the astoundingly large castle that had now come into view.

* * *

**You guys are so awesome, thank you so much for the reviews and for reading my story! We'll finally meet the Prince next chapter, and guess what? He is _not _an original made up character for the story. Your clue is that Emma has interacted with this character a little bit on a _few different occasions_ throughout the show. Also if you were to describe this character's personality, prince probably wouldn't be one of the words that you would use for him.**


	6. Two Different Worlds

Emma and the Huntsman dismount off of their horses and take a few steps forward. The Prince's castle towers above them. The Huntsman has never seen anything this huge before in his entire life. Emma having grown up in a castle herself, was a bit more used to the sight, but this castle was even bigger than her own.

After they finish staring, they turn to look back at the horses only to find that they were suddenly gone. Emma and the Huntsman stare at each other wide-eyed for a moment. Neither of them had heard the horses take off or anything. It would appear that Rumpelstiltskin was right when he said that the horses would magically find their way back home.

For safety, the Huntsman also sends off his wolf brother to stay in the woods. He doesn't want to take the chance of him getting hurt, should someone at the castle see him as a threat.

From there the two then make their way down the cobblestone bridge that connects the forest to the castle. The blonde yawned drowsily as the path felt like it stretched on forever. As she walks, she pears over the side a bit to see a river flowing down below. It's then that the sound of clanking metal becomes extremely apparent as Emma and the Huntsman are swarmed by a group of men in armor.

The guards suddenly seize the Huntsman, restraining both his arms in an aggressive fashion. Emma finds herself in the same situations but only one guard is flanking her.

The man twists Emma's arm behind her back and gives her a hard shove, the Huntsman lurches forward in response as he tries to break free. Another guard grabs the hunter and thrusts him up against a stone pillar nearby. He lets out a pained groan as his back hits the column.

An older man with a mustache and glasses approaches and stands in front of Emma. He's dressed in red and blue, wearing a jacket with golden buttons running down the middle. "What do we have here, thieves?" The gentleman puts so much emphasis on the word thieves, that he practically spits in her face.

She looks up at him and proudly proclaims, "My name is Emma, I am the daughter of Snow White and King James." The blonde meets the mans stare and holds it until he breaks contact.

He then scans her clothes and scrunched his nose some in disdain, obviously not fitting his high standard. "And why should I believe you?" Using her free hand, Emma reaches under her shirt and pulls out a necklace she had been wearing. Turning it over, she reveals the symbol of the royal family engraved onto the back of it. The fellow slides his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and squints his eyes as he examines the jewelry.

After about a minute, he looks up and flicks his wrist. "Release her." He tells the guards plainly. The guard releases her from his grip and she brushes herself off and stands firmly.

The portly fellow then strides his way over to the Huntsman, "And who is this filthy animal?" He questions, turning his nose up at him. The hunter sneers in response.

His elitist attitude irks the blonde to her core. As much as Emma wants to make snide remark, she bites her tongue for fear of them hurting him more. "He's a friend! He helped me get here. Let him go." She says, a hint of desperation in her tone.

_'A friend?_' No one had ever called him that before. He had no time to revel in that statement though, because the next thing he knew he was being roughly dragged off.

"I believe he should be taken in for some further _intense_ questioning." The man answers curtly, ignoring the young girl's plea.

Emma steps forward trying to get them to stop, but before she can say anything, another person's voice interrupts.

"Enough!" Someone yelled off from a distance. All the guards stopped what they were doing and turned they're attention towards a dirty blonde haired fellow that was making his way down the stairs towards them.

"General Stanwick, stand down." He commands turning to the older male. The man now known as General Stanwick, backs off and the other guards release their grip on the Huntsman. The hunter stumbles forward a bit, then rubs the sore spots on his arm.

The mystery man then faces the direction of the two travelers. "Excuse my rudeness. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Anderson Whale, Prince of Braussa." So this was the Prince. The man wasn't a bad looking fellow, he was clean cut and tall, with somewhat short dirty blonde hair. Not quite Emma's type though.

He then turns his attention solely to the young princess, "And you must be none other than my lovely fiancée Emma." Bowing slightly, he kisses the top of Emma's hand.

The Huntsman rolls his eyes at the gesture, while Emma resists the urge to pull away her hand. This guy was her soon to be husband, she needed to at least try to make an effort to be civil. All those lessons in manners were going to seriously be put to the test now. At the moment, the gentleman didn't seem to bad, but she couldn't seem to shake the uneasy feeling in her stomach.

Returning to a standing position, he continues. "I'm happy to hear you are well, I had heard about your carriage being attacked. Many had feared you dead, I'm glad that turned out to not be the case."

"As am I." Emma replied. Anderson nodded. "Come then, let's get you both inside."

The two of them were then led into the castle by the young prince. As they made their way further in, they saw the symbol of the Braussa kingdom displayed on numerous red and blue tapestries hanging throughout the place.

Oddly enough, Emma felt a little out of her element being back in a palace. Even more so since she was in a place she had never been before. She could only imagine how the Huntsman was feeling.

Their walk through the castle finally lead the group into a large dining room. "You both must be hungry." Prince Anderson says, as he claps his hands together. It's then that a servant appears at his side almost instantaneously. "Bring us some food for our guests." He instructs the man. With a quick nod, the servant is already off and headed towards the kitchen

It doesn't take long before the food comes out and the three take a seat at the long dining table.

Emma and the Prince start eating while the Huntsman stares down at the utensils awkwardly. Being a man of the forest, he's never used such things before. He was familiar with knives of course, but that was about it.

Picking up the fork, he clumsily attempted to use it, knocking various food items off his plate in the process. Emma was a little amused by the sight of it. He often must have felt the same way when she attempted new things during their travels. It was a rather endearing seeing his efforts at using the cutlery.

At that moment Emma remembered something. Turning to Anderson, she asked "Prince Anderson, can you send a message to my parents letting them know I'm alright?"

"Consider it done." He said with a nod.

Just as they are about done with their meal, the Prince mentions to Emma, "With your delayed arrival, we're going to have to make haste on the wedding plans."

Haste was an understatement. Before she can even shoot him a puzzled look, the next thing Emma knew she was being dragged off and strapped up in a wedding dress for a proper fitting. Apparently the less the dress could make you breathe, the better it would look on you. Which according to that ridiculous logic, she must have looked great, because she was on the verge of passing out from how tight they'd made it.

Though the young Princess wasn't the type of girl to dream of her wedding day like most women, the thought had crossed her mind before of using her mother's wedding dress. But wearing her mother's dress for an arranged marriage such as this, seemed like it would have tainted the garment and all that it stood for.

Once out of the dress and finally able to breathe again, she was once more dragged off to even more wedding related preparations. They asked her about what flowers she want and how they should be arranged. Then what color theme she wanted for the event, in which Emma learned that there are about two hundred different shades of white.

Elsewhere, the Huntsman, who felt terribly out of place, decided to explore the woods outside the castle. The Prince had offered the hunter a room to stay for the night, and since the Huntsman didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to Emma first, he obliged.

Even despite him being in unfamiliar territory of the forest, being outside felt far more comfortable to him. It felt a little strange to be there without Emma along with him. He kept waiting to hear her footsteps behind him or for her to make some type of comment about something she had seen in the forest.

He'd spent his entire life making as little contact with people a possible, and yet for some strange reason he actually felt himself missing the companionship that he had grown accustomed to over the past few days. They'd be parting ways soon, and then he'd have to return back to his life of wandering the woods with only his wolf again. While Emma would be starting a brand new life as the wife to the Prince of Braussa. They really were from two different worlds weren't they?

The General from earlier shot him a dirty glare when he finally returned to the castle later on that evening. It's not like the gesture was anything he wasn't already used to. New place, same old reactions. He could only imagine the type of look he'd get from the man if he had known that he was raised by wolves.

Despite having been shown the location of his room earlier that day, the Huntsman was still escorted by numerous guards back to it once again. The guards would often _"accidentally"_ bump his shoulder along the way, attempting to rile him up. He fought back the urge to retaliate and just kept walking.

When he saw the place earlier, it was obvious that numerous things had been removed from the room, the subtle dust rings in various locations gave that away. They had no doubt feared him stealing certain items from the room he was staying it. The constant reminder of why he's avoided people all his life becomes apparent again.

Now making his way inside, the Huntsman catches sight of a note sitting on the table in his room. He's puzzled at first but then walks over to it and picks it up.

The note reads:

_"Meet me outside in the garden early tomorrow morning."_

_Emma_

At first glance, he's suspicious over if the note is truly from her or not. But after examining the handwriting, there's not doubt in his mind that it's from her, even without ever seeing her handwriting before. The way people wrote said a lot about their character. Emma's penmanship displayed confidence and determination, with a hint of elegance.

Folding the note up, he places it into his pocket and heads to bed.

On the other side of the castle, Emma had finally finished the wedding preparations for the day. Though according to one of the women, the young princess still wasn't done with everything just yet. All Emma could do was groan in response. If she knew it was going to be this much work, she might have reconsidered the whole idea entirely.

As she made her way down the long hallway to her room, she noticed the Prince headed her way.

He greets her with a smile. "Ah just who I was looking for. With all the wedding prep commotion I forget to give you this." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a ring. The band of the ring was gold in color and is encrusted with large gems of various different colors. It was a little gaudy for her taste, but she faked a smile as he showed it to her.

The Prince then kneels down in front of her, taking her left hand he slides the ring onto her finger. "It doesn't fit." Emma states, as she watches the ring loosely slide back down her finger. Anderson furrows his brows in response.

Taking the ring off her finger, he places it back into his shirt pocket. "I'll see if I can get the blacksmith to adjust it."

One of the large locks in the castle chimes loudly as it hits the next hour. Fidgeting slightly, Anderson tells her "Well then Princess I should be off. Good night." He then hurriedly rushes his way back down the hallway and out of sight.

As he left, Emma let out a sigh. The ring didn't fit, and neither did she, at least not here anyway. She kept trying to make the best of this, but all she felt was exhausted.

When Emma opened the door, she got to view her room for the first time. It was rather lovely actually believe it or not. The bed was huge, and looked ever so tempting to lay on in her extremely tired state. Across from it was a table and chair sitting beneath a mirror.

Part of her wanted to go check in on the Huntsman but she was completely fried. Between preparations, she had managed to just barely sneak a note into his room with the help of a kind maid who had shown her the way. She'd felt bad leaving him by himself all day.

Taking a seat on the chair in front of the vanity mirror, Emma grabbed the brush off the table and combed her hair. The princess chuckled a little as she pulled out a small twig from her golden locks. She probably wouldn't be seeing much of the forest after she got married. It would soon become that thing she could only view from the distance of her window, and not much more.

Looking out the window, she peered down only to find Prince Anderson nuzzling up to some redhead outside in the garden. Emma sighed. _'Great. He's one of those guys.' _She knew this wasn't going to be easy, but it was quite obvious the man she was set to marry probably wasn't going to be keen on the concept of monogamy.

The thought of being the wife that pretends to have no idea of her husband's mistresses sickened her. Emma was not the type of woman to just sit around and take that kind of thing. Even though she didn't have feelings for him, she still wanted some kind of loyalty out of this.

Part of her feared if she confronted him on the matter the arrangement would be off, and the hope for saving her kingdom lost with it. But it really wouldn't really be _her_ kingdom anymore would it? Once she married the Prince, Braussa would be her kingdom now. Despite what politics might say, the place her parents ruled would always be her true home and people.

It was all just so frustrating. This wasn't her and she couldn't stand it, she just felt so trapped. She ran her hands through her hair in annoyance before flopping down on the bed.

Emma quickly realized that after the wedding, everything was going to change. The question was, would she be able to handle it?

* * *

**A/N: And that's the womanizing Whale that we all know at the end. If you didn't pick up on it when he introduced himself, Prince Anderson is Dr. Whale. The actor who plays him has the last name Anders, hence where the first name Anderson came from, since we still don't know who he is yet. Anyway, with the wedding quickly approaching things are about get intense. Once again thank you to all of my lovely readers and reviewers, you make me so excited to write this story.**


	7. In Too Deep

It's early morning and the Huntsman is waiting outside in the garden just as Emma's note had requested. He fiddles with the rust colored scarf around his neck that he always wears, as he leans against the banister of the outside staircase. It isn't long before the sound of shoes on stone reaches his ears and pulls him out of his thoughts.

Turning around, he finds Emma descending down the staircase towards him. She's dressed in a lovely lavender colored dress and her hair is down, draping rather perfectly over her shoulders.

She looks stunning and he can't help but stare. The blonde exudes a most royal quality about her. And though she's never treated him as such, he can't help but feeling terribly beneath her in that moment. It's a reminder that she is a Princess and he's just a Huntsman. When they were traveling in the woods together he had forgotten all about that, but now it was hard to ignore. The overwhelming urge to bow in her presence comes over him and surprisingly he does so.

Emma stares at him perplexed by the action, then she playfully smacks his shoulder, "What are you doing? Get up." She says with a laugh.

"Come on, we're sneaking out for a bit." Emma tells him, as the hunter gets back on his feet. "I'm sick of all these stupid wedding arrangements." She told him as she rubbed her temples. "I need a break." If she didn't get away for a while, she would have wound up punching the next person who even said the word "wedding" to her.

"Up this early on your own? Color me impressed." The Huntsman tells her with a slight smirk on his face as he follows behind her. It wasn't long ago she was groaning and complaining about the early wake up times in which they traveled at.

She turns her head back to look at him. "Ha ha, very funny. I guess maybe your old man tendencies are rubbing off on me." Emma says with a chuckle as she pushed through the forest.

The hunter scrunched his face some, clearly taken aback by the comment. "Just because I wake up early doesn't make me an old man." He retorted with a slight pout. When you grew up in the woods like he did, if your weren't up before the sun, something else already was. It was both a thing of safety and a means of finding food before another hunter had.

"I'm only teasing." She replied. Then Emma stopped and stood there for a moment, distracted by their conversations she hadn't really taken notice on where she was going. Looking around she pauses, she didn't want to go to far into he forest. The princess needed to get back before anyone noticed she was gone.

The Huntsman comes up beside her and points forward, "There's a clearing just up ahead. We can stay there awhile before heading back." The hunter states as if reading her mind.

He takes the lead and Emma shook her head and laughed. "I should have guessed you had already scoped out the area." Leave it to the Huntsman to already know the layout of a part of the woods he's only been in once.

In a matter of minutes they reach the clearing that the Huntsman spoke of and Emma sits down on a nearby tree stump that she spots. The Huntsman sits against the back of a tree trunk a few feet away.

Breathing in the crisp nature air, the blonde felt the tension in her body slowly start to melt away. "I'm gonna miss being able to come out here into the forest. I mean the Prince's garden is nice and all but, it just doesn't have that same feel as the woods do." She enjoyed that sense of the unknown at times, it kept her on her toes.

The Huntsman nods in agreement as he too takes in the fresh air around him. Resting his head back against the tree, he then proceeds to grab a few stray twigs laying beside him and starts fiddling with them.

Emma enjoys the pleasant calmness around her. No one rushing her off somewhere or asking her about flower arrangements or seating, just the occasional birds tweeting and the sound of leaves rustling gently in the wind.

They sit like that in quiet for a little while. It's then she glances over to find the Huntsman still messing with the twigs he had earlier. A look of confusion crosses her face as she tries to figure out what exactly he's been doing with them all this time.

Noticing her staring, he holds up what he's been working on so that Emma may see. It's a group of twigs intertwined together to form what looks like a ring of sorts. "Here, so you can always have a piece of the forest even when you're in the castle."

The Huntsman walks over to her and places the item into her hand. It's simple, yet somehow intricate at the same time. She places the gift on her ring finger on her right hand.

"A perfect fit." He comments as he sees her wearing it. Emma stares down at it incredulously, "Yeah... I guess it is." The thought of the Prince's ring sliding off her finger creeps into her mind. She glances over at the Huntsman, his sentiment echoes in her mind. _'A perfect fit.' _

Upon realizing it's getting late she tries to shake that thought off. "Thank you." She tells him with a genuine smile, unlike the one she gave when seeing Prince Anderson's ring.

Standing up, she tells him, "We should probably be heading back to the palace now." The hunter gives a nod of understanding and the two make their way back through the forest once again.

The Huntsman and Emma return to the castle. Making their way up the steps and inside of the palace, the Princess stops in her tracks at the sight she sees before her. "Mom? Dad?"

Standing a few feet in front of her is none of then her parents Snow White and King James. They greet her with a look of excitement and relief.

"Emma you're alright!" Snow exclaimed, rushing over and pulling her daughter into an incredibly tight bear hug. For such a small woman, her mother had one heck of a grip. James followed, but in a much calmer fashion.

"We were so worried about you." Her mother said, still squeezing the heck out of her. Her father James, nodded from behind Snow in agreement.

Slightly dazed from the tight hugging, she finally manged to ask "How did you guys get here so fast?" The blonde was rather puzzled about that. Sure, carriages were way faster than traveling by foot, but she hadn't expected their arrival this soon.

"You'll be surprised how fast determination to see your child will get you here." Charming stated.

"That and a little bit of fairy dust on the horses hooves." Snow added as she finally released her daughter from her bear hug.

Emma chuckled, "Handy." She commented.

As Emma was having her little family reunion with her parents, the Huntsman stands off by himself, staring down at his feet. So that's what a family looked like, it was an interesting sight. But it was also a sight that made his heart ache a little. It was something that he never really had, and probably something he never really would.

Letting out a small sigh, he considers leaving as to give them some alone time together. But before he can, he hears his blonde companion speak up.

"Oh! I want you guys to meet someone." Emma said, with a cheerful smile. Turning around, she walks over towards the Huntsman and grabs his arm, dragging him over in front of Snow and James.

"This is the Huntsman." She introduces, "He's the one who helped me get here safety. If it wasn't for him I'm not sure what would have happened to me out there." He shifts awkwardly under the attention. He's not used to having the focus on him and when the focus was on him, it was never of the good variety.

Charming takes a step forward, staring at him "So, you were the man that's been traipsing around the forest with my daughter all this time..." He stares at the Huntsman with a stern expression on his face. Both women shoot him a look simultaneously and James clears his throat.

"But... We owe you our gratitude for helping her. So you have our thanks." His stern expression lightens some into to a slightly friendlier one, but not by much. He still wasn't fond of the fact this fellow had been alone in the woods with his daughter these past few days.

Snow smiles warmly at the hunter before her, "Thank you good Huntsman, for looking after our daughter."

The Huntsman, uncertain how to react or what to even say, bows his head slightly in acknowledgement.

Snow then turned to look at Emma. "We're set to meet with Prince Anderson's parents in a few minutes so we have to be off. Emma, your father and I will you see later on."

Staring at her daughter for a moment, her eyes start to water a little and she pulls her into one more hug. "We thought we'd lost you." Snow whispers into her ear. Emma eyes water a bit at her mothers kind sentiments. "Thanks mom." Emma says quietly, tightly hugging her mother back.

Pulling apart, Snow then rejoins her husband across the room.

As her parents head down the hall, Emma turns around and notices the Huntsman hasn't moved from the spot where he was standing. She tilts her head slightly as she looks at him, waiting for him to speak.

Taking a deep breath, he tells her "I should... I should be going now." He didn't mean going as in somewhere else in the castle, he ment going as in he was leaving for good.

"You're leaving?" She didn't know where it came from, but a sudden sense of panic crept into her voice as she asked him that. It really shouldn't have come as such a shock to her, but somehow it did.

Letting out a deep exhaled breath, he shakes his head. "You don't need me anymore, Princess. You have the Prince now, you no longer have a need for a... Huntsman." There's a hint of sadness in his voice he tries his best to hide.

Her mouth hangs open slightly, she doesn't know what to say. Sure, maybe he wasn't exactly needed anymore, but that didn't mean he wasn't wanted. Looking down, the blonde quietly asks, "Huntsman, what'll you do now?"

The hunter shrugs his shoulders slightly, "I'll return to roam the forest, just as I did before. You needn't worry about me." After a moment, he nods a farewell before adding "Take care Emma." Then starts heading towards the castle doors.

"Wait!" Emma exclaims, almost frantically. The Huntsman stops but doesn't turn around, because he knows that if he does it will only make this harder. But why was he finding leaving so hard anyway? Maybe because for the first time in his life someone _didn't _want him to leave. He was far more used to it being the opposite, everyone had always wanted him gone.

Finding herself not wanting him to go, she blurts out the first logical reason she can think of. "Stay for the wedding!"

It's then he turns around to look at her, an expression of uncertainty crosses his face. "Emma... I don't know if I..." He trails off.

"Just at least stay until the day of the wedding. If you don't want to stay for the wedding itself then you can leave in the morning, no questions asked. Please?" She gives him surprisingly pleading look and he sighs.

Emma's never been one to make requests like this to people before. Maybe it's because she doesn't want to let go of the life she had before marriage, or maybe it's really something else entirely. All she knows is she doesn't want him to leave yet.

"What'll you tell the Prince?" The Huntsman finally asks. His question sends a flicker of hope within her that he's considering staying.

"I'll just tell him you're staying for the wedding. If you choose not to attend then I'll make up some story about you having to leave."

Thinking it over a moment, he gives in. She's starting to have that effect on him it would seem. An expression of relief washes over her faces.

It's then a bell chimes and Emma turns to look at the towering clock the stood in the corner of the room. It's noon, the time she was set to meet Prince Anderson for lunch.

"I've gotta go." She explains in a rush, lifting part of her dress up knowing she'll have to run. "But I'm glad you're staying!" The blonde shouts over her shoulder as she dashes down the hall towards the dinning room.

Elsewhere in the castle, Snow and James were chatting on their way to meet with Anderson's parents.

"I like him." Snow states, referring to meet the Huntsman, as she and her husband walk down the long stone hallway of the castle. "He seems like a nice boy."

Charming frowned a little, being the ever protective father he was, any new boy around his daughter was not something he was fond of. "He's seems a bit rough around the edges if you ask me."

Snow smiles, locking her arm and his "If I recall, you were a little rough around the edges yourself Charming." She teases, nudging him slightly with her elbow.

Back on the other side of the castle, Emma entered the dining room to find the Prince is already there. He stands upon seeing her. "Sorry I'm late." She apologizes, "I lost track of time."

"Perfectly fine." Anderson tells her as he pulls out her chair for her to sit down. Almost immediately her plate of food is placed in front of her by a servant.

"I guess after having bandits chase after you twice, it's taught you run pretty quickly." He said with a chuckle.

At that comment, Emma looks up abruptly. "When did I tell you they attacked me twice?"

Anderson blinks a moment. "You mentioned it earlier." He states matter of factly, as he digs his fork into a piece of food.

Emma pauses to think. The princess was fairly certain she hadn't brought that up to anyone, but given how tired she was from everything lately, maybe she had. Shrugging it off, she left it alone.

Fidgeting slightly, she had to find a way to bring up the Huntsman staying. She attempted a casual approach. "You know that Huntsman friend of mine? I thought it would be nice if he could stay for the wedding, after all it was thanks to him that I managed to get here." Emma hoped slipping in an implied, you kind of owe him, would better the chances of him being able to stay.

The Prince tensed slightly at the question. "If you want him to stay then he may, but you've only known that man for a couple of days, do you really think you can trust him?"

For some reason, the accusation strikes a nerve with her. "I could say the same about you." She counters defensively. The words fly out before she can even realize what she's said, and though she means every word of it, she realizes she can't risk sabotaging this arrangement for her kingdom. "Sorry..." Emma mutters quickly, trying to smooth things over.

"Fair enough, my bride." The Prince responds, a slight hint of annoyance in his tone. "But don't you find it coincidental that every time you were attacked that he just _happened_ to be around." He points out.

Emma narrows her eyes at him slightly. "What are you saying?"

Scooting one of the carrots around the plate with his fork, he then explains. "I'm saying that for all you know, he could be working with them."

"He's not like that." The blonde says firmly.

The Prince nods, "Alright then. I'm just concerned for you safety."

"Well, thanks." She tells him as the two continue their meal.

Later that night Emma finally meets up with her parents again. She never expect to miss them so much.

"That's a nice ring, when did you get that?" Snow asked her daughter curiously.

Emma glanced down at her hand, she had forgotten that she was still wearing her gift from the Huntsman. "Oh, something I pick up along the way here." She says, before casually slipping the ring into the pocket of her dress when her parents weren't looking. She really wasn't in the mood to explain that topic at the moment.

"So how are things in the kingdom?" The young princess asks them, hoping to hear some kind of good news.

James frowns and Emma can already tells where this is leading. "The crops are still failing and the food supply is dwindling. We've been trying to trade with surrounding kingdom but that supply will only last so long."

This wedding arrangement was turning more dire than ever. There was no way out of this now. Emma could start to physically feel the pressure starting to way down on her.

"We're still looking for a way to fix it though, there's still time." Snow interjected trying to lighten the mood. But it was no use, time was slipping away and Emma highly doubted a solution would magically produce itself just in the nick of time.

Emma looks down and shuts her eyes. She could feel the hope that she had of getting out of this situation fading. "Can we talk more tomorrow, I'm really tired." Exhaustion and disappointment fills her voice and her parents understand.

They both give their daughter a quick kiss goodnight before heading of to their chambers.

Entering her room, the young princess sits at her desk with her elbow propped up, her chin resting in the palm of her hand. Two days. Two days and she would be married. It had never hit her more until that very moment. hopefully the fact of knowing her parents and the kingdom would be taken care of would be enough to get her through this.

Sighing she places her hands in her lap. Her fingers tips graze something she doesn't recognize at first and then realizes she still has the ring in her pocket. She takes the ring-shaped branch and gives it another look. Looking around a moment, out of curiosity she carefully slips it onto her ring finger, but this time on her left hand. Staring down at it, a small smile crept across her face.

The Huntman's face flickers through her mind for a moment, as does what he said when he gave her the gift. _'A perfect fit.' _His voices echos in her head.

Letting out a sad sigh, she shakes her head and places the ring down on the table. She was getting in too deep.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter took a little longer to finished than I intended, I blame in on the whole Graham's Letter thing that came out recently for distracting me. Anyway, thank you all once again for reading and for you reviews! There's a pretty big reveal that happens in the next chapter, and there was a subtle hint in this chapter on what it might be. Either way, expect some interesting drama next chapter.**


	8. According To Plan

By the time the sun had risen, the Huntsman had already been awake for hours. He still couldn't quite get used to sleeping in a bed. At times, he actually wound up sleeping on the floor because it reminded him more of how he usually slept back in the forest.

The hunter looked up at the ceiling above him. He'd grown tired of the stares he would get whenever he left the room. The only two places he could avoid them were in this room and out in the woods. Part of him wants to leave this place, but he promised Emma he'd stay at least one more day, he couldn't go back on his word. She was the only thing that even made this place the slightest bit tolerable anyway.

The young blonde was the first person he'd ever met who didn't judge him for how he was raised and how he lived. After today he'd be headed back to that lifestyle, which now seemed oddly lonely to him as he thought about it. But he'd get used to being alone like that again, right?

Letting out a sigh, he pushed himself off the bed and into a sitting position. From there he stood up and headed over to the window. His eyes scan the horizon before landing on a figure out in the garden. The person he spots is none other than Prince Anderson Whale, necking on some lass who wasn't Emma.

The sight sickened him, though in all honestly part of him was actually glad that it wasn't her. Seeing that would have been far more painful, though he wasn't sure why.

The Huntsman never did like the Prince, despite the man's attempt at a charming demeanor, he smelt a rat right from the start. How could he do something like that to someone as kind as Emma?

As much as he wanted to go down and take a swing at the fellow, he knew that would only get him kicked out of the place. He had to tell Emma, she needed to know what this fraud of a man was doing behind her back.

Getting her alone the day before the wedding was proving rather difficult. She was once again being pulled in every which direction for last minute arrangement checks. But he finally managed to catch her on a free moment.

"Huntsman!" The blonde greeted cheerfully upon seeing him. "You have no idea how relieved I am to see a familiar face." Despite not wanting to get married, she really just wanted to get these stupid preparations over and done with.

"We should talk." The hunter tells her seriously. Emma tilted her head slightly "Alright..." She agrees, slightly uncertain as to what this is about.

He takes her outside for this conversation for two reasons. One, he doesn't want any of the Prince's staff to hear this conversation and two, at least if he's in his element it might make the whole thing a tad bit easier to say.

When they finally stop the Huntsman fidgets slightly as he prepares to tell her. His lack of interaction with people all these years has made this an even more uncomfortable conversation to have than it would be for your usual person.

"What is it?" She asks the hunter curiously. Taking in a deep breath, he finally just comes out and says it. "The Prince, he's cheating on you."

Emma's not surprised by this news. She had learned that little piece of information the first night she came here, but she had neglected to mention it to anyone else. The princess wasn't aware if her betrothed was still up to those same old antics or not, but apparently he was.

"I know." She confessed to him quietly.

The Huntsman's eyes go wide in shock. "You know?" He stares at her with an incredulous look on his face. "And you're still going to marry him?"

The young blonde sighs. "Does it suck to know he's screwing around with someone behind my back? Yeah, it does. But this isn't about me anymore, it's about my kingdom. I'm doing this for them. Not to mention... I don't care about him that way. So it doesn't bother me as much."

A look of relief quickly sweeps across the Huntsman's face over the last part. "You don't?"

Emma shakes her head, "No, I don't." She tells him honestly.

None the less, the hunter is still bothered by it. "But still, you deserve better than this Emma. You deserve someone who will treat you with respect, someone you can trust. A guy who doesn't need other women on the side to be happy. You need a guy who, just needs you and no other woman."

In most cases, wolves tended to mate for life. That was philosophy that the Huntsman had always believed in aswell.

Emma smiled at him thoughtfully. Aside from her parents, she had never seen anyone care about her happiness like this before. The princess was, dare she say, touched by his sentiments. "Thank you. But I'm fine, really. I knew this going in that the situation wasn't going to be easy. I've come to terms with that."

When he first met the princess he found her honorable for going so far to save her kingdom. Now that he had gotten to know her though, he still found her intentions honorable but at the same time he also thought of how ridiculous it all was, the fate of a kingdom resting on a single girl's shoulders. The pressure to save all these people must have been enormous.

Clenching his fist slightly, he argues. "There has to be some other way to save your kingdom! There just, has to be..."

Emma shook her head. Any other method would have put to many other people at risk and she couldn't do that,

"But..." He trails off before looking down at the ground in defeat. This whole thing, it just wasn't right.

Emma gives an understanding nod, "Look I... I better be getting back, more arrangements to take care of."

The blonde stood there for a minute. Once back at the castle, the rest of the day would be occupied with things she had to do. If the Huntsman decided to leave before the wedding, this might be their last time seeing each other. She swallows hard at the realization. Exhaling, she tells him "Goodbye Huntsman."

The Princess smiled sadly at him before turning around to head back to the castle.

"Emma," The Huntsman called out to her as she had started to leave. The blonde turned back to look at him, "Yeah?"

He sighed, "Even if it's useless, I'll try to find you a way out of this. I promise."

She gives a gentle nod before the two part ways for the day, Emma returning to the castle once again, while the hunter heads out into the woods.

When night falls the Huntsman returns back to the castle just as usual. As he made his way down the hallway towards his room, the sound of someone speaking around the corner caught his attention. He recognizes the voice as the Prince's, but who was he talking to? Pressing his back up against the wall, he listened in on the conversation.

"You two better not screw this up again. You've messed up twice already." Anderson huffed in annoyance. Whoever he was speaking to he was not pleased with.

"The first time was a fluke, we didn't expect her to have back up the second time around." A new voice spoke up in defense of the royal's comment.

_'Her?'_ Leaning slightly closer towards the corner, he continued to listen. The voice of the man who had just spoken sounded familiar to the Huntsman, but he just couldn't quiet seem to place where he'd heard it before.

The Prince taps his foot against the stone floor impatiently. "Well this time around I couldn't have possibly made it any easier for you. After the wedding we'll be heading to my family's summer castle by carriage. You should no problem killing Emma then."

The Huntsman stifles a gasp. _'Emma...'_ He was going to have her killed? No, he couldn't let that happened. Without a second thought, the hunter rushed off down to hallway to find Emma, before it was too late.

He soon spots her down the hall and calls out her name to get her attention. Emma turns around surprised to see him, "Huntsman you're up late, what's the matter?"

Slightly out of breath, he finally manages to say, "Emma, I-I need to tell you something."

She blinks a few times in response, hadn't they already had a talk like this earlier today? His behaviour is making her nervous, she's never seen him like this before. The usually well composed Huntsman seems surprisingly frantic. "Alright... What is it?" The blonde asks slightly worried.

"Don't marry him!" The hunter blurts out.

"What?" Emma asked in surprise.

He goes on to explain, "The Prince is planning to have you killed after the wedding. It's been his plan all along. Don't do it."

There's a long pause before Emma finally speaks. Shaking her head, she lets out a sigh. "I know you want to get me out of this, but lying isn't the way to do it." Emma responds, a slight bit disappointment of in her voice.

The Huntsman is taken a back. He hadn't expected that kind of reaction. When he said he'd look for a way to get her out of her situation he didn't mean by tricking her. Apparently that must have been what she thought he was doing.

"Why would he go through all of this then? How would he benefit from it?" The blonde presses in a serious manner.

He stutters uncertainly in response. "I-I don't know... I didn't hear that part." The hunter was in such a rush to find her he didn't get all the details, part of him wished he had. It would have made convincing her easier.

She sighs and shakes her head. "Appreciate you trying to help, but next time you come up with a fake story, think it the whole way through." Emma retorts, a slight harshness in her voice.

He takes a step closer towards her. "Emma I'm not lying. Why won't you believe me?" A sense of desperation starts to fill his tone, the realization that he might actually lose her hits him hard. He had to, no, he _needed_ to get her to believe him.

For a moment her breath catches in her throat and she feel her eyes sting slightly. No matter how much she doesn't want to do this, no matter how much she would rather be with h... Emma quickly shakes the thought from her head before she can even finish it. She just can't.

"Because this arrangement **has** to work!" The blonde yells fiercely. "This is the _only way left_." Her voice cracking slightly. "Even if you are telling the truth, I still have to take that risk and hope you're wrong. Because otherwise, I can't help my kingdom or my parents!"

The Huntsman growls in annoyance. She's willing to risk her own life for some stupid obligation? The girl was beyond stubborn. "You can't help them if you're dead!" He shouts desperately, in an effort to get his point across.

A tense silence falls over them after that. The sound of their heavy breathing is the only thing that can be heard in the empty hallway. The princess shakes her head, "I just... I have to go." Picking up her dress slightly, she takes off down the hall, trying to hold back the tears that threaten to fall.

"Emma..." He reaches out his hand as if to stop her but it's too late, she's already gone.

Entering her room she slams the door behind her. Leaning her body against it, she sinks down to the ground and buries her head into her knees. A few tears manage to escape and make their way down her cheek. It wasn't supposed to be like this, it wasn't supposed to be this complicated. All she had to do was marry the Prince and save her kingdom, that was the plan.

But then he came along, the Huntsman and everything somehow got so complicated.

Emma ran her hands through her blonde locks in frustration. The Princess had fancied herself pretty good at telling if people were lying or not, but lately her emotions were starting to cloud her judgement to the point where she couldn't make heads or tails of was indeed being truthful to her.

The Huntsman had always been honest with her, she trusted him fully. But she couldn't help but wonder if that was a desperate last-ditch effort to get her not to marry the Prince. Nor could she figure out what exactly Anderson would gain from having her killed. She just didn't know what to do anymore.

Back in the hallway, the Huntsman hadn't moved from the spot he was standing in earlier. Closing his eyes, he tilts his head down towards the floor and lets out a sigh. What was he going to do?

Suddenly the sound of slow staccato clapping can be heard coming from behind him. The Huntsman whirls around only to find Prince Anderson standing there, grinning smugly at him.

"Nice story Huntsman. To bad she didn't believe you." The royal crosses his arms and leans against a nearby stone column, rather entertained by the current circumstances.

The Huntsman let out a low growl as he bared his teeth at the man. "You won't get away with this!"

"Won't I?" He teased. "Seeing as I've had this planned out for a while now, I thought you coming along would screw it all up, but actually you've made it all the more easier."

The Hunter takes a step back and gives him a stare of suspicion and confusion. "What do you mean?"

Anderson smirks, rather pleased with himself. "There was one component of my plan that could have used some improving on. I planned to simply say it was the work of some random bandits who had killed her. But now that _you're_ here, guess who I'm going to pin the on?" He points his finger at the man in front of him. "You. And given your whole persona, no one will doubt me for a second."

The Huntsman's jaw drops, "No..." He says in disbelief. Never for a second would he hurt Emma in any way. A feeling of rage surges through him. "I won't let that happened!"

"I thought you would say that." Prince Anderson snaps his fingers and a group of guards appear quickly, restraining the Huntsman before he can take any action.

Pushing himself off the column, he takes a few steps closer towards the hunter. "I can't have you messing with my plans now can I?"

"Take him to the dungeon." Anderson instructs before turning around.

The Huntsman struggles to get away from the guards before suddenly, everything goes black.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this took so long. I decided to go a different route than I originally intended for the chapter, only to realize it would no longer work with future events I had planned. So I had to scrap most of it and go back to my original idea. But now everything works. Anyway as always, much thanks to all the readers and reviewers of this story! **

**Since this chapter took so long, here's a tiny tease for next chapter:**

[Snow puts a gentle consoling hand on her daughter's shoulder. She hated seeing her like this. "Are you really sure that you can go through with this?"

"Honestly?" Emma asks. "I don't really know anymore."]

**Will Emma still go through with the wedding in order to help her kingdom, even despite her feelings? And with the Huntsman locked up in the dungeon will he be able to prevent Anderson's plans to have Emma killed? Expect some interesting twists next chapter.**


	9. I Do's and Dont's

Emma looks out the window of her bedroom down below at the crowd of guests who have come to attend the wedding. She recognizes numerous familiar faces amongst them, such as Red Riding Hood, or as Emma called her, Aunt Red. Along with Red, Emma also spots some other family friends she knows like Grumpy as well. But the one face she is looking for is the one face that is missing.

The Princess sighs, "I thought he would come." She tells her mother as she sits back down on the chair, while Snow continues to work on Emma's hair. Disappoint fills the young blonde's voice, her shoulders slump a bit upon sitting in her seat.

Her mother frowns slightly as she continues to comb the girl's hair. "You can't really blame him for not showing up. Who wants to watch the person they love get married to someone else?" Snow had been in a similar situation when Charming was to wed Abigail. Though her methods of trying to bottle up her feelings were a bit more on the extreme side.

The blonde shakes her head, and chuckles slightly. "You just met him the other day, how can you possibly know he loves me?"

The brunette sighs, her daughter could be so blind sometimes. "I've seen the way he looks at you. And from what you've told me, he's not much of a people person, so for him to stick around a castle full of them just to be around you means something. If he didn't care about you, he would have left days ago. You were the only reason he stayed."

It's at that moment that it finally hits her, all of it suddenly clicks. She'd been in denial about his feelings for her, even after last night. Heck, she'd been in denial about how she felt about him too. It was just easier to pretend that those feelings weren't there. Emma buries her face into her hands at the realization.

Snow puts a gentle consoling hand on her daughter's shoulder. She hated seeing her like this. "Are you really sure that you can go through with this?"

"Honestly?" Emma asks. "I don't really know anymore." It was a far simpler idea to marry the Prince when she didn't have these feelings for the Huntsman. She hadn't expected to fall in love on her way here. Emma laughs a little to herself, Belle was right, sometimes you really do find love in situations you'd least expect to.

It was either her kingdom or her happiness. But it didn't really matter now did it? The Huntsman was already gone. Even if she wanted to change her mind she had missed her chance, it was too late.

The mother and daughter sit in silence for a while, a heavy feeling sits in the air. Both women can't help but feel so helpless in their current situation.

"Wow, is this a wedding or a funeral?" A familiar female voice suddenly calls from the open doorway of the room.

Emma spins around and grins upon recognizing the voice, "Alexandra!" She exclaims, happy to see her childhood friend.

Snow smiles as she sees the young woman. "It's good to see you again Alexandra. Are Ella and Thomas with you as well?"

Alexandra nods at the brunette. "Yeah. Mom and Dad are already seated outside in the garden, but I thought I'd pay the soon to be bride a visit before the wedding started." The two girls exchange a quick hug before Emma returns back to her chair.

The other girl takes a seat on the edge of Emma bed. "So I saw that prince guy you're supposed to marry, he's not to shabby in the looks department." The fellow princess told her with a casual shrug.

Snow scrunches her nose slightly, "He still seems a little shady if you ask me." She confesses bluntly, for the first time.

Her mother had good instincts. Emma hadn't mentioned to her about the little rendezvouses that Anderson was having with various other women in the castle. That type of information would have only made her poor mother feel even more guilty over the fact that her daughter had to do this for the sake of their kingdom.

It's then that there's a light knock on the bedroom door before it opens, revealing her father behind it. "Emma, it's time." He tells her. The Princess nods.

Snow puts the last pin in Emma's hair before it's finally finished. "There." Her mother says with a half-hearted smile, she looked so stunning but somehow it all just felt so wrong. The brunette had always looked forward to the day that her daughter would get married, but this wasn't how she imagined it. Snow gives the blonde one last hug before heading downstairs with Alexandra, out to their seats in the garden.

Her father stands in the doorway for a minute staring at Emma, "You look beautiful Emma." he told her. She smiled sadly, "Thanks Dad."

Walking over to her, James pulls her into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry Emma, truly I am. It should have never come down to this." He apologizes once again. Deep down, he knows he'll never be able to forgive himself for not being help to prevent her from doing this.

She gently pats him on the back, "It's okay." As they pull apart, Charming offers her his arm and leads Emma down the stairs.

Elsewhere, the Huntsman lies on the cold rough stone floor of his cell. He's sore, tired and his head is pounding. The small bits of light shining through the cracks between the bricks meant it was now daytime. The wedding, he had to stop it. But he could barely even move, not to mention he saw little that he could use as a means of escaping.

It was then that the sound of shoes against the hard floor caused him to stare up. The source of the noise stands before the bars of his prison. "Who are you?" The hunter asks.

Emma stands out in the garden waiting for her cue. Her fingernails dig into the flower stems of the bouquet she's holding as she tries to calm herself. That feeling of uneasiness sits in her stomach as she stares down at the altar ahead. There stands Prince Anderson Whale of the Kingdom of Braussa, her soon to be husband.

Shaking her head, she lets out a disappointed sigh. It's then that the music plays, signaling for her to make her way down the aisle. Emma takes a deep breath, _'Here goes nothing.' _Taking a step forward, she makes her way onto the long rug that is stretched out across the grass.

Passing the seated guests on her way up to the altar, her parents smile sadly as they watch their daughter walk down the aisle. Snow is teary eyed, but not for the reasons a mother should be on their child's wedding.

Emma makes her way up to where she is needed and stands beside Prince Anderson. The minister nods towards them both and proceeds to speak. As the princess stands there listening to the man, she notices her fiancé turn around and give a quick wink at someone off in the other direction. She rolls her eyes, at first Emma assumes it's yet again another woman, but is actually surprised to see who the gesture really went to.

Tensing up, she inhales sharply. The person in question was none other than one of the bandits who had attacked her carriage, it was the weaselly fellow with the scar on his face. He stood arms crossed, leaning against a stone pillar near the castle.

Suddenly it all makes sense, she recalls an earlier conversations with the Prince._ "I guess after having bandits chase after you twice, its taught you run pretty quickly." "When did I tell you they attacked me twice?" _She knew she hadn't told him about that! The Prince really had been behind those attacks on her.

Her jaw drops, "He was right..." Emma mutters in disbelief staring down at the ground. The Huntsman was speaking the truth all along. Her head shoots up and she repeats slightly louder this time, "He was right!"

The Prince gives her a look of bewilderment as he turns to look at her, "What?" The minster has an equal look of confusion upon his face, he takes a small step backing sensing something is about to take place.

"You were the one who hired those men to kill me, weren't you!?" If any of the guests had happened to nod off for any reason, they were quickly jolted awake by the sound of Emma shouting. Most of them had little idea what she was talking about but nonetheless, they listened to the argument unfolding with intrigue. Many of the older folk loved anything they could use for gossip.

Anderson pulls back slightly. Realizing he can't exactly get himself out of this, he swallows hard. "Yes." He answer disdainfully. Her parents stare at each other in shock over the recent development.

Emma glares at him sharply, he'd been using and playing her this entire time just as the Huntsman had said. The Huntsman... It's then something dawns on her. The Huntsman wouldn't have left after knowing she was in such danger, something must have happened to him.

"Where is he!?" Emma demands, her blue eyes flashing with rage as she stares at the Prince. She knew he had to be behind the hunter's disappearance.

"Where's who?" He asked her casually.

She grabs the collar of his shirt, her fingers gripping tightly around the fabric. "You know darn well who! The Huntsman! What did you do to him?" The intensity in her voice increases with each word out of her mouth.

Anderson tries pulling away, but her hold is surprisingly strong. "He's locked up in the dungeon." The Prince finally admits, nodding towards the castle.

The blonde doesn't even ask where the dungeon is. After releasing her grip on him, she pulls up her dress some preparing to run, but not before he confesses something.

"This whole thing wasn't even my idea..." The Prince mutters, whilst crossing his arms and looking down towards the ground.

Suddenly confused by the comment, Emma spins back around to face him. "Then whose idea was it?"

"Mine."

The voice that speaks cuts through the crowd like a knife, and it's one that many people there at the wedding instantly recognize. Emma along with all of the guests turn behind them to find none other than the Evil Queen standing there. She was dressed in her usual black and was wearing that look of amusement on her face.

"Regina! I should have guessed that you'd somehow be involved in all this." Snow shouts out in anger as she shoots up from her seat. Charming stands beside his wife, taking her hand in his, he squeezes it protectively.

"Haven't you crashed enough weddings?" James yells in annoyance. Though to be honest, this was one wedding he didn't quote mind being crashed seeing as he didn't approve of it. But he wasn't going to let her know that.

The Evil Queen ignores his comment all together and focuses her attention on the brunette. "Snow, you've gotten so old. No longer the fairest of them all it would seem." The women grins, rather pleased at dig towards her former step daughter.

"Not all of us feel the need to use magic to keep ourselves looking young Regina." She fires back in return.

Emma watches the two bicker back and forth for a moment, but what really catches the blonde's attention more than anything else is the person that the Queen has suspending in the air beside her. The color drains out of her face upon realizing who it is.

A strangled yell escapes her throat, "Huntsman!" Upon hearing her voice the hunter weakly lifts his head up to look at her. It's barely audible, but he manages to say her name. "Emma..."

For the first time Regina looks towards Emma, "Ah yes,_ the hunter_. Who would have expected that such riffraff could cause so much derailment in my plans."

The Queen then shifts her gaze over to Anderson. "And you, I should have known better than to rely on a Prince to complete this task." She huffs, shaking her head in frustration. The royal seems slightly hurt by the comment.

"The plan may have changed but the outcome won't." Regina smirks.

"Leave here at once!" Charming demands as he takes a firm step forward, showing that he means business. He places his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready if need be.

"Oh I'll go, but I'm not leaving empty handed. I'm taking this little party favour with me." She gestures towards the Huntsman beside her and grins menacingly.

A sense of urgency rushes through the princess. "No!" Emma lunges forward but it's to late, they both disappear into a cloud of purple smoke.

The young blonde stands there frozen, her eyes still transfixed on the spot where the two had previously been standing. Her knees practically feel like they might give out at any moment.

After a short bout of astonished silence, the guests then instantly break into a feverish chatter over everything that has happened. Emma can't even be bothered to care what any of them are saying, she's in far too much shock to even care.

Finally gaining some composure, she turns to face her parents who are standing a few feet away. "I have to get him back." She tells them, her voice hinting on desperate.

James shakes his head, "That's exactly what she wants, you can't risk it." It was obvious the Queen had kidnapped the Huntsman in order to lure Emma to her castle, so the she could finish her plan.

Emma disagrees whole heartily, "I don't care, I have to help him!" There was no way she was just going to leave him there. The Huntsman had spent his whole life being abandon by people, she wasn't going to be one of them.

Snow steps forward in between them, "There's no stopping her Charming, when a women fights for the man she cares about she'll stop at nothing to get him back."

James knew that truth first hand. When the Queen had captured him, Snow went to any length she could to get him back, even risking her own life to do so. And that's what worried him.

Seeing the fierce determination in his daughter's eyes, he sighs in defeat. "Alright, but you're going to need some back up then."

Emma gapes slightly in surprise before smiling in relief at her parents support. She'd planned on going no matter what they said, but having their support in the matter put her a bit more at ease.

"He saved me before. This time, it's my turn to save him." The blonde says confidently.

"Your going to need a lot more than confidence to take on the Evil Queen, dearie. Perhaps I can be of some assistance."

Blinking a few times, Emma as well as her parents turn in the direction of the voice. "Rumpelstiltskin?" She asks in surprise.

* * *

**A/N: Bit of a twist, eh? Regina always manages to be behind everything it would seem. Once again thank you all so much for the lovely reviews and for reading my story, I really appreciate it! I'm so happy to see it being well received. Next chapter we'll finally understand some characters motives for certain things and with some help, Emma sets out to help free the Huntsman.**


	10. Taking The Bait

Emma stares blankly ahead at the sight before her. There stood Rumpelstiltskin, accompanied by his lady Belle. Though she had invited them to the wedding, it was a bit of a surprise that they had actually come. Especially considering that he was lying low and keeping off the grid in the forest. Coming to a place full of people, most of which who wanted his head, was rather unexpected.

James instantly steps forward in front of his wife and daughter, sword now drawn. He held the tip of the blade out towards the man's throat. But the fellow doesn't even flinch at the sight of the weapon, he only smirks slightly in amusement. Charming glares it him. "Rumpelstiltskin." He says disdainfully.

"Ah if it isn't the parents, Queen Snow and _King_ James. Lovely to see you as always dearie." Rumple says, with a slight bow, all while grinning that ever so impish grin of his. He makes sure to emphasize the word "King" as to remind James of their past dealings together.

A low pitched growl of annoyance escapes the King's mouth at the teasing remark. It was obvious that the man was enjoying toying with the him, trying to rile him up. "Tell me what you're doing here!" Charming demands, his patience running thin.

Sensing her father's temper flaring, Emma takes a step towards him in an attempt to calm him. Between a failed wedding and a kidnapping, the last thing they needed was a murder as well. "Father it's alright, I invited them." The Princess explains.

Charming stares at her incredulously, his eyes wide with shock. "You invited them? When did you even meet him?" The fact that his daughter had already had a run in with Rumpelstiltskin before made him even more worried than he had been previously.

"It's a long story, but we meet them on the way to the Prince's castle." She gives her father a look of reassurance that no sort of deal making had occurred on her first encounter with him. That helped relieve the King's nerves slightly, but not by much.

The blonde then turns back to the older gentleman, "You know a way I can help get the Huntsman back?" The princess asked hesitantly, but still curious. She was entering dangerous territory here, she knew to be careful.

Rumple nods his head. "Indeed I do. And I can tell you how, for a price of course."

Emma groans, she should have seen that one coming. She contemplated whether she even really needed his help or not for this. But with the Queen's magic, it would be far from a fair fight, even if she had a whole army helping her it still might not be enough.

"Emma you can't, working with Rumpelstiltskin is too dangerous." Snow warns, grabbing her daughters arm. The brunette knew from past experience just want he was capable of, she didn't want Emma involved in any of this man's dealings.

The Princess stares back at her mother conflicted. The situation would be dangerous either way she chose to do it, she was uncertain which way would be less damaging.

"I know first hand what it's like for the Queen to take the person you care about." Rumple glances over towards Belle before continuing. "The sooner you get them back the better."

At first the blonde couldn't tell if he was trying to play on her emotions just to make a deal with her, or if he was actually being seriously genuine. But given the look he had exchanged with Belle, she knew he was being honest.

After giving it some thought, Emma sighs. "What do you want?"

Rumple scratches his chin for a moment as if thinking it over. Taking a step closer to Emma, he reaches his hand out and grabs the necklace she's wearing. Pulling it close to him, he runs his thumb over the pendent, as if analyzing it or something. The blonde pulls back slightly and watches him suspiciously.

"That's not up for trade." Snow warns sternly. That necklace had been something long passed down in her family. It had been her late mother's, there was no way she'd let him take that.

"Very well then. I want you to remove me from your "Wanted" list of criminals." He states plainly, turning towards James. For over two decades a warrant had been out for Rumpelstiltskin's arrest. The man had always manged to elude any attempts of capture though.

"Out of the question!" Charming roars. This man had caused them enough trouble over the years, he would have had him arrested on the spot if they were back in their own kingdom. There was no way he was going to give this man a pardon after all the things he had done.

"I but want a peaceful life in our home with my dear Belle." He says innocently. There seemed to be a hint of truth to that, but it was obvious there were other motives behind it aswell. Despite the brunette having softened the man up some, there was still a level of cunning beneath the surface. He still always liked to have the advantage.

Charming snorts in disbelief.

Rumpelstiltskin gives him a focused stare. "As long Regina has magic then she'll have the upper hand, dearie. Letting your daughter go in unprepared is like throwing a sheep into a wolves den. You should know that never turns out well, _shepherd_." The man tilts his head slightly and smirks.

He was right. As much as James hated to admit it, he was right. Emma was stubborn and would go through with the mission either way. If she at least knew something that would give her an advantage with her confrontation with the Queen, then he needed to give her that chance of having it.

"Fine." The King mutters unhappily. What other choice did he have?

Rumple grins rather pleased. "Excellent. Then we have a deal."

The man goes on to explain. "Magic is a fickle art. It can be used on things and other people, but never directly on one's self. It's one of those pesky little rules." He informs them. "If the Queen is hit with strong enough of her own magic, it's possible that it can canceled out her powers, permanently."

Emma stood there shocked by the revelation. The question was, was he indeed telling the truth or not. Surely it couldn't be that simple could it?

"He's right." A new voice confirms. They all turn to see the Blue Fairy hovering in the air a few feet above them.

"Blue Fairy." Rumple said acknowledgment, venom soaking her name as he spoke it.

"Rumpelstiltskin." She cautiously greets in return.

The two share a tense staring match between one another, issues from the past still very much prevalent in their opinions of each other. It isn't until Emma steps in that the two finally break their gaze.

"So how exactly am I suppose to do that, reflect her magic back at her?" It's not like Emma had any magic of her own she could use to do so.

Belle puts her hand on Rumple's shoulder and he relaxes under her touch before responding to Emma's question. "That dearie, is all up to you. But if two opposing forces should meet, the stronger force will win out." He explains cryptically.

"Stop speaking in riddles!" James grumbles in frustration. You never got a straight forward answer from this man. With is daughter's life on the line he had no time for games.

Emma sighed, so basically she'd have to figure out how exactly to reflect Regina's powers back at her on her own. She didn't know how she was going to do it, but the one thing she did know was that she was getting the Huntsman back, no matter what.

Once everything was settled with Rumple, Emma had one more person she need to deal with. The Prince.

She turned to Anderson, hand on one hip with an impatient stare on her face. "Spill it Prince, why did you do it? Why were you working for the Queen?" From the looks of it he too had been a pawn in this little game of hers.

"I..." He stammers awkwardly, staring down at the ground.

She crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow at him. "Let me guess, she seduced you didn't she?" He shrugs sheepishly as the blonde hits the nail on the head. Emma shakes her head, _'Unbelievable.'_ As much as part of her enjoyed the fact that he had gotten played just like he had done to her, this wasn't the time for that.

"I won't fall for that again." He says curtly, clearly disappointed in himself for falling for the Queen's trap. If there was one thing Anderson hated, it was being made a fool of. "Look, I'm sorry about this. To make up for what I've done you may use my family's horses and whatever else you need to get your Huntsman back." The Prince adds, "Just make sure you make her pay."

With a quick flick of his wrist, a servant appears speedily at his side. After giving the man a set of instructions, the servant is off once again, just as quick has he came.

Emma blinks a few times before nodding. "Uh... thanks."

Suddenly Emma felt something cold and wet pressing against the back of her calf. She turns around to find none other that the Huntsman's wolf sitting there. "Hey boy." The Princess greets, accompanied by a quick scratch on the animal's head. The wolf wines slightly. "We'll get him back, don't worry." The girl assures him.

She was not only fighting to bring the Huntsman back for her, but for his wolf brother too. With that in mind, the young blonde returns to her room for a change of clothes. She couldn't possibly go on a rescue mission in her wedding dress. Throwing on her tan trousers and red blouse, she ties her hair back preparing for what lies ahead.

Elsewhere, the Huntsman stood with his back against the stone walls of the Queen's castle. He has chained shackles around his wrist that held him in place.

"What are you going to do to me?" The Huntsman asks as the Queen impatiently paces back and forth. She stops upon hearing him speak and walks towards him.

Regina grins smugly. "You're the bait to draw the Princess here my dear boy." This may not have been her original plan, but she found she might just enjoy this way better. Completing the deed with her own hands.

The hunter stares down at the floor, "How do you know she'll even come?" He was simply but a wandering Huntsman, why should a royal Princess even care what happens to him. Not to mention the fact he was simply used to being abandoned by people. Even though he knew Emma was different and not like the others who had done that to him before, those insecurities from his past were still prevalent. Who would want to save a nobody?

"Oh she'll come alright. If she's anything like her mother she'll be here." The Huntsman looks way from her. As much as he wanted to be free, part of him hoped Emma wouldn't come, because that would only put her in more danger

Regina roughly grabs his chin and pulls his face forward to look at her. "You fancy her don't you?" She asks him with a smirk on her face. "Well I'll let you in on a little secret Huntsman, hunters don't get girls like that, even if the girl feels the same." The woman gets quite a minute before adding "And neither did stable boys."

Releasing her grip on him, she gives him a slight shove backwards before returning to her pacing.

The Huntsman shakes his head and sighed. His heart aches in his chest as he thinks of the young princess with golden blonde hair that he met one day in the Enchanted Forest. Little had he known then he'd care about her so much.

* * *

**A/N: So sorry this took so long and that it's rather short. I've realized that when Emma and the Huntsman are separated, it's far more difficult to write those chapters. Speaking of, I'm also sorry for the lack of Emma and the Huntsman stuff in these past two chapter. But believe me, next chapter will be chock full of stuff for them. So hopefully it'll be well worth the wait. Once again thank you all so very much for the reviews and for continuing to read my story! **


	11. Opposing Forces

Heading back down stairs from her room, Emma spots her rescue mission team waiting in the hall below. Her team includes her father, as well as Grumpy, Red, The Blue Fairy and of course, the Huntsman's wolf. The wolf is sitting rather comfortably beside Red with his tail wagging, for obvious reasons.

Snow wanted to come along to help, but realized doing so might invoke more of the Queen's wrath, which would put Emma's safety in jeopardy. Because of this, she decides to stay behind, but not before giving Emma something. Placing the object in the palm of her daughter's hand, she folds Emma fingers up around it. "Take it with you, for good luck." Snow tells her. Opening her hand, the princess sees its her Mother's wedding ring.

"But Mom I..." Emma tries to argue but Snow squeezes her hand firmly, " I might not be able to come with you, but at least with this I can be there in some way. You're going to come home safe so I know you'll bring it back to me." She says with a smile. This was Snow's way of showing she trusted and believed in her daughter. That ring had always helped her and Charming find each other. Snow hoped it would help Emma find her Huntsman as well as help Emma find her way back to them.

Putting the item in her pocket, Emma nods firmly. That ring meant everything to her mother, so now she had one more reason to make sure her mission was successful and that she returned home. The blonde smiled proudly before hugging her mother goodbye.

Setting out on their horses, the group rides off in a full gallop towards the Queen's Castle. Charming leads the way there, Emma follows closely behind, gripping the reins tightly between her fingers. She feels like they can't get their fast enough, but she knows better than to overwork her horse, so she makes sure he's not getting too worn out.

The young blonde is so focused on pressing ahead she pays little attention to anything else around her. It isn't until the towers of a castle start to appear on the horizon that Emma realizes their finally here. The palace had a grey metallic look about, unlike the stone castle that the blonde had grown up in, this one almost looked like it was made of long sharp glass spikes.

Quickly dismounting of their horses, a group of the Evil Queen's men emerge from the gate heading their way. James unsheathes his sword and leads the team forward. The others follow in suit using their own particular set of weapons or skills.

As the small but powerful team fights off the guards on the outside of the palace perimeter, Emma sneaks her way towards the gate and heads inside.

Upon entering the castle the Princess feels a chill make its way down her spine. Her footsteps echo throughout the empty passage ways. The place is fairly dark, only dimly lit candles on the wall illuminate the way. It was hard to believe that this castle was the place that her mother had grown up in as a child.

As Emma walks past a mirror hanging up beside her, a face briefly flickers in it before fading back it's normal reflective surface.

Meanwhile in the deepest part of the castle, the Evil Queen paces back and forth across the corridor, waiting impatiently. "Your Majesty," The magic mirror calls, drawing her out of her focused state. She turns to the floating face in the mirror, who was once a genie many years ago, to see what he has to say. "The Princess has arrived at the castle." He informs her.

Drumming her fingers against one another, she smirks in a rather pleased manner. "Excellent. Everything is going according to plan." It wouldn't be long now before the Queen finally got the revenge she so desperately sought. Turning towards the Huntsman, she eyes him up.

The boy had served his purpose of drawing out the Princess, but that didn't mean she still couldn't use him to inflict more pain on the Charming family. She grins diabolically as she takes a step towards him.

As Emma makes her way down another hallway, she looks around in confusion. The inside of the castle seemed surprisingly empty. She had expected the place to be crawling with guards, set to try and stop her at each and every turn. But there was nothing. It was now becoming apparent that Regina wanted to do this deed herself.

She finally comes across a set of large double doors. This is the room that's he's being held in, she can just feel it. Putting her hands on the wooden panels, she takes a deep breath. Emma wasn't sure how exactly she was going to do this, but she'd get him back no matter what.

When the blonde pushes open the two double doors, she isn't prepared for what she sees. Emma finds the Huntsman hunched over, his hand clutching his chest, writhing out in pain on the floor. The hunter's anguished cries flood her ears.

The Princess rushes over to his side and gently cradles him close to her. Taking his head, she rests it on top of her knee. Emma runs her fingers through his hair before resting her hand on the side of his cheek. Shaking her head, she's on the verge of tears seeing him like this. "I'm so sorry I didn't believe you." If she had just listened to him in the first place he wouldn't be in this mess.

His eyes widen as he sees her. "Emma, you came." The Huntsman says weakly, his lips quirk up slightly into a small smile as he stares up at her face. He's breathing heavy from the pain, beads of sweat grace his brow.

She nods and lets her thumb gently stroke the side of his face. His scruff scratches against her fingers. Staring down at him, she smiles. "Of course. A wolf always looks after one its pack. Remember?"

The Huntsman laughs a little, before the searing pain radiates throughout his chest once again. He cringes and lets out a hurt groan. The Princess recoils slightly out of fear that she might have caused it, before then pulling him closer to her, in hopes it will some how alleviate whatever is causing his pain.

Regina sighs loudly, causing Emma to look up. "Sorry to cut this little reunion short but I have plans to set into motion. So if you wouldn't mind."

"What did you do to him!?" The blonde shouts out aggressively. The fierce look in her eyes show she is in no mood for the Queen's mind games.

Taking a few steps forward, she explains. "The poor boy fell in love with a Princess he knew he could never have. I simply relieved him of the source of his heartbreak." The Evil Queen then gestures to the red, dimly glowing object in her hand.

Her eyes go wide as they land on the item in question. "You... you took his heart?" She manages to stammer out in sheer disbelief. The blonde's jaw hangs open for a few moments before she's finally able to shut it again. Emma looks down at him briefly before looking back up at Regina.

"The heart. It's a fairly useless organ if I you ask me. One doesn't even need it in the body in order for it to function. But give it a good enough squeeze..." The woman tightens her grip around the heart, making the Huntsman once again cry out in pain. "And well, you see what happens."

"Stop it!" Emma yells as she shuts her eyes, unable to watch him in pain any longer. The Queen lessens her hold on the organ and places the heart back in the box on the table beside her. She was done toying with the hunter for the time being, now it was time to get down to what she had been waiting to do.

As the Queen takes a few steps towards the Princess, Emma stares at her a moment, a sense of familiarity washing over her. Squinting slightly, she tilts her head some. "We've met before..." The blonde states, trying to put the pieces together. "From before the wedding. But from where?" She thinks back, searching the depths of he memories until it suddenly comes to her.

"The marketplace. You were that old woman who sold me these clothes. That was you." The girl finally realizes. She knew that uneasy feeling she had around her wasn't for nothing. That comment about the color "apple red" looking good on her was a dead giveaway.

Regina crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow in surprise. "So you do remember. I hadn't expected you to be so perceptive." She tells her, shrugging her shoulders some.

Taking a few steps forward, she finally makes her plans known. "I've been behind everything this entire time. Your kingdom's crops that wouldn't grow, that was my doing. I knew it would drive you royals to desperate measures in order to save your people. So I seduced Prince Anderson into making a proposal to marry you in an arrangement that would seem to help your kingdom. But oh I didn't stop there." The Evil Queen muses, quite proud of all her work.

"After having him hire the Aciandra clan, you were set to be killed on your journey to his castle." Regina frowns before adding, "Though somehow you managed to escape them. Twice." Letting out a sigh, she mutters. "Useless fools. Even despite me tipping them off after you had entered the marketplace, they still couldn't get the job done."

Straightening up some, the Queen smirks. "But that just means I now have the honor of doing this myself."

Emma sat there in shock. She was behind everything, all of it? Pushing her kingdom to the point of destruction, forcing her into an arranged marriage. That was because of her? "But why!? Why are you doing this?" The blonde demanded to know.

"Because this is my happy ending! You see I knew it would break dear Snow's heart, for her child to be forced into an arranged marriage. Then to hear that you, her one and only daughter had been killed would have left her utterly guilt stricken for having even agreed to it. Having Snow White lose both her daughter and her kingdom would be the ultimate blow to that untrusting woman!"

Emma shakes her head. She knew the story behind the Evil Queen's hatred of her mother.

When Snow was a young child, she had learned that Regina was in love with a stable boy named Daniel. But Regina was set to marry Snow's father King Leopold. Snow had promised to keep the secret but when she believed that Regina's mother wanted what was best for her daughter, the young girl admitted that the older brunette was in love with another and not her father. Hoping this would allow Regina to be with the man she loved, it instead backfired and the stable boy was killed by Regina's own mother. Ever since that day, the Evil Queen has been out for revenge against Snow White.

"Do you really think this is what he'd want? For you to be so consumed with revenge that you've completely lost sight of everything else?" Emma asks her. "This will never fill the void, it won't make you happy."

The woman growls, clenching her fist so tight her knuckles turn white. The comment makes her blood boil, how dare this girl act like she knows. "Quiet!" The Evil Queen yells. Raising up her hand she releases a ball of electricity and shoots it directly at the two.

Seeing the orb flying straight at them, Emma leans forward and shields the Huntsman with her body in order to protect him. Shutting her eyes tightly, she braces herself for the impact. But it never comes. Slowly opening up her eyes, she notices her necklace glowing brightly. As she look up, she sees a force field of sorts surrounding her and the hunter. He gives Emma's hand a quick reassuring squeeze.

The orb sparks slightly as it tries to embed its way into the shield, but then swiftly flies back in the direction on the Queen. Caught off guard, Regina is unable to dodge and so it hits her head on, knocking her to the floor.

Stumbling to her feet, she brushes herself and lets out growl of annoyance. Lifting her hand up once again she tries to fire another orb, but nothing happens. Not matter how many times she flicks her hand open, she can't produce any magic. "What did you do!?" The woman shouts in frustration, stomping towards her.

_"If two opposing forces should meet, the stronger force will win out." _Rumpelstiltskin's voice echoes in her mind. "Pure love against pure hate." Ema says quietly, finally realizing just what he had ment. Only when the world's two strongest emotions clash, could it be capable of neutralizing the Evil Queens powers. Emma's caring gesture to shield the Huntsman from Regina's attack had been stronger than that of the Queen's angry attempt to hurt them.

"I may not have my magic but I still have this." She reaches for the Huntsman's heart that sat in the box on the table beside her. Holding it up in the air, she starts to give the heart a squeeze.

Emma's eyes widen in panic, there was no way she'd be able to reach it in time, but she has to try. Before she can even get to her feet, the blonde can hear the sound of scratching claws on stone. It's then that the Huntsman's wolf rushes past Emma towards the Queen and slams into her hard, causing the woman to lose her grip on the heart.

The precious heart tumbles out of her hands and starts falling fast. Emma lunges forward and catches the Huntsman's heart just in the nick of time before it would have hit the stone floor. She lets out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Stupid mutt!" The Evil Queen bellows at the animal. The wolf turns to her and snarls, bearing its razor sharp teeth at her. She takes a few steps back as the creature stalks its way towards her. Glancing behind her for a moment, she quickly flees down the hall. The wolf doesn't pursue her, but let's of an aggressive bark which speeds up the woman's pace.

Suddenly the heart in Emma's hand glows brightly as it returns to where it rightly belong. The room goes blinding bright white for a moment before returning to normal. The Huntsman lets in a deep inhale of breath as the sensation of a beating heart fills his chest once again.

She helps the Huntsman up into a sitting position. It takes him a moment to steady himself, but then gets the hang of it again. His eyes are brimming with adoration, like she's never seen before.

"What?" Emma asks him, head partially tilted to the side in confusion as he continues to look at her. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Because." He answers simply.

"Because what?" She asks once again.

He takes in a deep breath. The Huntsman then cautiously reaches his hand out towards her, tilting her chin up ever so slightly, his palm then moves to cup her cheek. The hunter's other hand follow in suit aswell. His palms feel warm against her cheeks and his normally steady hands shake a bit as he holds her face. This is new territory for him, he's out of his element. But still he goes for it.

The hunter starts to lean forward towards her, his lips are now just barely inches away from hers. She leans in closing the distance between them to reciprocate and their lips meet. It's something that both of them have wanted to do for a while, but were far too afraid to admit it.

As they pull apart, Emma rests her forehead against the Huntsman's for a moment, before she stares up at him. "That's a good reason to stare at someone." She says with a slight chuckle, a grin forming on her lips. He laughs in return as he pushes a strand of Emma's hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear.

It's then that the wolf comes up and nuzzles his wet nose into the Huntsman's cheek, before letting his tongue loll out to the side of his open mouth, quite happy to see his companion again.

The Huntsman pets the animal on the head. "Thank you boy. You did good." The creature lets out a cheerful yap in return. The blonde nods in agreement, if it wasn't for him, things might have turned out much differently. Turning back to Emma, the hunter smiles. "And thank you."

She's a little caught off guard and flustered by the expression of gratitude. "It was nothing." Emma says trying to shrug it off like it wasn't a big deal. But it wasn't just nothing. Not only had Emma come to save him, but she had also protected him as well. That meant more to him than she could ever know.

The Huntsman stares down one of the hallways for a moment. "Shouldn't we go after her or something?" He asks, referring to the Queen.

Emma shakes her head, "Nah. Having her live without magic would be far more of a punishment than anything we could ever do to her."

"Let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps." She tells him, another shiver crawling up her spine. The Huntsman pushes himself off the ground and offers her his outstretched hand. reaching up, Emma takes it and pulls herself to her feet.

Brushing herself off, she then grabs the Huntsman's hand and starts to lead him down the hallway she had originally come from so that they may head home. The Huntsman's wolf follows along side beside them.

* * *

**A/N: I apologize for this taking so long, I had a toothache for the past few days making hard to concentrate. But enough about that. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, this one was really fun to write. Thank you all so much for your reviews and for reading, I appreciate them very much. This story will probably wind up wrapping up soon, just to let you guys know. I haven't decided if next chapter will be the last or not, we'll see.**


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